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Combining Like Terms Guided Notes & Doodles | Simplify Expressions
$4.25
Overview
Have you ever wondered how to teach combining like terms for 6th or 7th grade?
Use this artistic, real-life lesson plan to teach your students about combining like terms. Students will learn about what like terms are, how to combine them, and how to simplify expressions in order to solve real-world problems. The lesson plan includes artistic, interactive guided notes, a check for understanding, and practice with doodle & color by number activity, along with a maze worksheet. The lesson concludes with a real-life application of combining like terms. It shows students how restaurants communicate phone orders under pressure, simplifying expressions to tally up orders quickly and accurately.
Get the Lesson Materials
Combining Like Terms Guided Notes & Doodles | Simplify Expressions
$4.25
Learning Objectives
After this lesson, students will be able to:
Define like terms and explain how to combine them
Simplify expressions using combining like terms
Apply combining like terms to real-world situations, such as restaurant phone orders
Note: This lesson plan features positive numbers only, and doesn’t cover the distributive property. See my distributive property lesson plan for that!
Prerequisites
Before this lesson, students should be familiar with:
Basic algebraic concepts, including variables and coefficients
Basic arithmetic skills, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
Understanding of terms and coefficients (know how to identify parts of an expression)
Materials
Pencils
Colored pencils or markers
Combining Like Terms (Positive Numbers Only) Guided Notes
Key Vocabulary
Like Terms
Coefficient
Variable
Exponents (Powers)
Simplify
Expression
Procedure
Introduction
As a hook, ask students why it is important for restaurants to be able to communicate phone orders quickly and accurately. Refer to the last page of the guided notes as well as the FAQs below for ideas.
Use the guided notes to introduce the concept of combining like terms. Walk through what like terms are, how to combine them, and how to simplify expressions using combining like terms.
Refer to the FAQ below for a walk through on this, as well as ideas on how to respond to common student questions.
Check for Understanding
Have students work through the problems on the first practice page, either collaboratively or independently.
Walk around and spot-check student answers on the check for understanding activity.
Based on student responses, reteach concepts that students need extra help with. If your class has a wide range of proficiency levels, you can pull out students for reteaching, and have more advanced students begin work on the practice exercises.
Practice
Have students practice combining like terms using the maze activity. Walk around to answer student questions.
Fast finishers can dive into the Doodle Math activity for extra practice (included in the
Combining Like Terms Magic Lesson). You can assign it as homework for the remainder of the class.
Real-Life Application
Bring the class back together, and introduce the concept of using combining like terms for calculating expenses at a restaurant. Explain that restaurant orders can be represented as expressions, and that combining like terms can help tally up the orders quickly and accurately.
Extensions
Additional Self-Checking Digital Practice
If you’re looking for digital practice for combining like terms, try my Pixel Art activities in Google Sheets. Every answer is automatically checked, and correct answers unlock parts of a mystery picture. It’s incredibly fun, and a powerful tool for differentiation. There’s winter and spring versions perfect for additional practice.
Additional Print Practice
A fun, no-prep way to practice combining like terms is Doodle & Color by Number — it's a fresh take on color by number or color by code. It includes 2 levels of practice, and is available free.
FAQs
Like terms in math are terms that have the same variable(s) raised to the same power. For example, 3x and 5x are like terms, but 3x and 5y are not like terms. Combining like terms involves simplifying an expression by adding or subtracting terms that are like terms.
A variable is a symbol that represents a value that can change, whereas a coefficient is the numerical factor of a term that is multiplied by the variable. In other words, a variable is an unknown quantity that can take on different values, while a coefficient is a known constant that is multiplied by the variable.
A term is a single numerical or algebraic expression that is separated by a plus or minus sign. On the other hand, an expression is a group of terms, separated by plus or minus signs or parentheses, that can be simplified or evaluated.
Combining like terms means to simplify an algebraic expression by adding or subtracting terms that have the same variable raised to the same power. By combining like terms, the expression becomes simpler and easier to work with.
To simplify an expression using like terms, you first need to identify which terms have the same variable(s) and exponent(s). Then, you can combine those terms by adding or subtracting them.
For example:
Let's say we have the expression
3x + 2y - 4x - y.We can simplify this by identifying the like terms
3xand-4x, and2yand-y.Combining
3xand-4xgives us-x, and combining2yand-ygives usy.So, the simplified expression is
-x + y.
If you’re looking for a more visual explainer for your students, here’s a useful Khan Academy video:
Combining like terms can help with real-life situations by simplifying complex expressions and making them easier to work with. For example, in a restaurant, orders can be represented as expressions, and combining like terms can help tally up orders quickly and accurately. In general, combining like terms can help us better understand and analyze real-world situations that involve algebraic expressions.
Here are some examples of real-world situations where combining like terms can be useful:
Restaurant Orders: In a restaurant, orders can be represented as algebraic expressions. Combining like terms can help tally up orders quickly and accurately, especially during peak hours when time is of the essence.
Construction Projects: In construction, combining like terms can help determine costs for materials and labor. This can be especially useful when working on large projects with multiple expenses.
Business and Finance: Analyzing data in business and finance often involves expressions with multiple variables that need to be added or subtracted. Combining like terms can simplify these expressions and make it easier to analyze and understand the data.
By simplifying complex expressions, we can better understand and analyze real-world situations that involve algebraic expressions.