Tuesday
Tuesday: Write the equation
Lucy is sorting smooth pebbles into little piles by her daisy.
She makes a pile of 4 blue pebbles.
Then Samantha the Squirrel drops a pile of gray pebbles beside it.
"My pile is 6 times as many as your blue pile," says Samantha.
Lucy wants to write it down, but she does not know the total yet.
Bennie hands her a twig. "Use a symbol for the number you do not know."
"We can write ? = 6 × 4. Then we find the missing number."
Learn it: a symbol for the unknown
Samantha has 6 times as many pebbles as Lucy's 4.
We write ? = 6 × 4. The ? stands for the number we do not know.
6 × 4 = 24, so Samantha has 24 pebbles.
Some books use a letter, like n = 6 × 4. It means the same thing.
- Read the question.
- Tap your answer.
Learn it: the unknown can be anywhere
42 is 6 times as many as what number?
We write 6 × ? = 42.
Think: 6 times what is 42? The answer is 7, because 6 × 7 = 42.
- Read the question.
- Tap your answer.
- Read the question.
- Tap your answer.
Freddy has 30 shells. That is 5 times as many as Hazel. Which equation fits?- Think about how Bennie writes an equation.
- Tap the steps in order.
| Sentence | True or false? |
|---|---|
| 6 × 7 = 42 | ? |
| 8 × 5 = 45 | ? |
| In ? = 6 × 4, the ? is 24. | ? |
Ask a grown-up to make a pile 5 times as many.
Write an equation with ? for their pile. Then count to check.
Nice equations! Tomorrow we compare two ways: more than and times as many.