Many people have this conception of Algebra...
I always tell my students that they did algebra back in Grade 2 but they just didn't know it.
Grade 1 - 1 + 1 = ▭
We followed the directions and added the 2 numbers together and wrote "2" in the box.
1 + 1 = 2
Grade 2 Day 1
1 + 1 = ▭
We followed the directions and added the 2 numbers together and wrote "2" in the box.
Grade 2 Day 2
1 + ▭ = 4
We followed the directions and added the 2 numbers together and wrote "5" in the box.
1 + 5 = 4
It looked wrong, and we knew it was wrong, but we followed the directions that said we had to add the two numbers together and put the answer in the box.
After a leap in our thinking, we were able to say that...
1 + "something" = 4
That "something" is 3.
1 + 3 = 4
1 + ▭ = 4 The ▭ = 3
So how about 1 + x = 4?
"x" is just a ▭ x = 3
I tell my students that they did Algebra in Grade 2 so they can certainly do it now in GED study.
This is very good! I have done something similar but not nearly as clear.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind comments. And on my birthday as well! This teaching idea goes way back to my time teaching in prisons. As soon as you mentioned the word Algebra, everyone became intimidated. They had some preconception of algebra as chalkboards full of equations. We never called it "algebra". We called it "Fred." (Not sure why, but Fred sounded a bit more friendly than algebra.)
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