I Can't Do Algebra! That "x" is a box.

"Algebra" scares people. When alphabets start invading our math pages, we panic. However...

we all did algebra in Grade 2. It just wasn't called algebra.


Grade One math looked like this..



The teacher told us to add the 2 numbers together and put the answer in the box.We did as we were told, because in Grade One, we generally did as we were told.


Grade Two, Day One math looked like this...

Pretty much the same as Grade One's work. 

The teacher told us to add the 2 numbers together and put the answer in the box.We did as we were told, because in Grade Two, we generally did as we were told. (How long would this last?)

Grade Two, Day Two math looked like this...

Everyone will say they wrote 3 in the top box and 1 in the bottom box. However, you probably wrote 7 in both boxes. Why? Because...  

The teacher told us to add the 2 numbers together and put the answer in the box.We did as we were told, because in Grade Two, we generally did as we were told. (How long would this last?) Our brains might have been telling us that our answers were illogical and wrong but we didn't want to go against the teacher. Over time we learned to put 3 and 1 in the boxes. So, if we could do that in Grade Two, then why can't we do...

The "y" and "x" are just boxes. 

If  2 + y = 5, then y = 3. 

If 3 + x = 4, then x = 1.

There - not so scary after all.