On Monday, I explained excitedly that we were going to be doing algebra in math. To my surprise, I was met by some aprehensive groans. "That's all those confusing letters!" "My brother says there's this x thing and that it's different everytime..." "Isn't that really hard?" I promised them that algebra was really fun...it's just using logic to solve puzzles. Luckily, they trusted us enough to give it a try.
We introduced the concept of the pan balance and weighed a few objects to give students an idea of how the balance worked. We then drew a pan balance on the board and talked about the fulcrum as the equal sign in an equation. When you solve a pan balance puzzle, you have to keep both sides equal and you do that by making sure that whatever you do to one side, you do to the other. After a few group attempts, students took on the puzzles individually or with partners. They met with quick success and were quickly using the transitive, commutative and associative properties of algebra to solve problems. Of course, they can't name these properties yet, but they certainly can apply them.
It's a really neat, concrete approach to algebraic thinking and can be extended to include purely symbolic math and powers. Most rewarding is when a child who doesn't consider himself or herself to be a "math kid" finds unexpected success. They just glow as they announce, "I love algebra!" For an example, print out this pan balance problem sheet.
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