Week 06 · Expressions

Number Hunt

// Parentheses first, and expressions in words

⏱ about 15 min

Saturday: Number Hunt

Oliver and Bennie walk to the meadow with a notebook and a pencil.

"Expressions are everywhere," says Oliver. "An egg carton has 2 rows of 6 eggs."

"So two cartons hold 2 × (2 × 6) eggs."

Bennie laughs. "And if three eggs sit beside the cartons, that is 2 × (2 × 6) + 3!"

"Exactly," says Oliver. "Let us hunt for groups and write expressions for them."

Hunt for groups

Look around your home with a grown-up.

Find things that come in equal groups, like egg cartons, window panes or socks in pairs.

Write an expression for what you find.

Try it: Number Hunt

Find something in equal rows, like an egg carton or a muffin tray.
Write an expression for all its spaces, like 2 × 6.
Find some extra things nearby and add them to your expression.
Use parentheses to show which step comes first.
Evaluate each expression you wrote.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN?

Read the question.
Tap your answer.

2 × (2 × 6) + 3 = ?

Add 5 and 4, then multiply by 6.

3 × (417 + 26) ? 417 + 26

(30 - 6) ÷ 3 = ?

ONE MORE ROUND

Read the question.
Tap your answer.

Which expression equals 24?

[2 × (4 + 1)] + 6 = ?

Compare (250 + 50) ÷ 3 with 250 + 50. Without calculating, the first is...

◇ EXPRESSION CHALLENGE WITH A GROWN-UP

One person says two steps in words, like "add 7 and 2, then multiply by 4."
The other person writes the expression with parentheses.
Evaluate it together.
Take turns five times.

Draw something you found in equal groups and write its expression.

For a grown-up

This week your child used parentheses, brackets and braces to show what to work out first.
They also wrote expressions from words, and compared expressions without working them out.
Ask: "Which step comes first, and how do the parentheses show it?"
Ask how 3 × (10 + 4) compares with 10 + 4, without calculating.

Great hunting! Next week Riley the Raccoon helps us add fractions.

Grown-up checked my answers

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