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The Unit: Reasoning with Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities (Math 7/8)

This unit is the second unit that the students go through in the Math 7/8 course.
Throughout the unit, students will be using what they learned about operations with
rational numbers in unit one and combining that with creating and working with
expressions and equations. The students will work with expressions starting in just one
variable and then move to expressions with multiple variables so that they can identify like
terms and what makes two terms alike. When they move to equations, they work in only
one variable throughout. They use these equations to solve different types of real world
problems.

By the end of the unit, students should be able to follow procedures to simplify
expressions and to solve linear equations in one variable. Students should also be able to
recognize what equality means and how to solve real world problems using both numerical
and algebraic expressions and equations. There are several different mathematical
properties that students will be introduced to during this unit and will continue to see
them throughout the year as well as future years.
Relevance to Standards

This unit follows closely to 7th grade Common Core State Standard 2: Patterns,
Functions, and Algebraic Structures. It is probably one of the most important units for
students to master because it includes properties and strategies that they will continue to
use. According to the standard students recognize and represent mathematical
relationships and analyze change [and] learn that the structures of algebra allow
complex ideas to be expressed succinctly (Colorado Department of Education, 2010).
Throughout this unit students are working towards meeting that overall statement of the
standard. They are recognizing how and where they can use both expression and equations
and through things like word problems they are learning how even a complex story about
change can be written into on simple expression or equation.

This unit also meets all of the Standards for Mathematical Practice. Students are
making sense of problems by taking lengthy expressions, equations, and even word
problems and either simplifying them or solving them for a specific answer. Through the
word problems, students are putting words into numbers and representing the problem
symbolically; they are also able to take an expression or equating and put it into words that
explain what is happening. Through several constructed responses during the unit,
students are able to explain why they come to a certain conclusion and help others to get to
a conclusion. When students explain their thinking in this way, they are able to be precise
about their answer and what it really means. In each of the tasks explained thus far, the
students are modeling with math in both a forwards and backwards way. In translating
words into symbols, students are able to use key vocabulary words to tell them what tool
they will need to use and then they can apply using that tool. This unit is where students

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UNIT TOPIC AND RATIONALE
are being exposed to different ways to break down a problem and what to do with it. They
are beginning to see that there is more than one way of solving different types of problems
depending on how they break it down. Finally, the students are able to take a very specific
problem and then generalize it into an expression or equation that can be used for a
number of different situations. They are also starting to see how to use the expressions and
equations in their lives. Each of the Standards for Mathematical Practice are addressed
throughout this unit and that comes in part because of the importance of the material in the
unit.
Significance of the Content

Expressions and equations are an extremely important topic for these students
because they are concepts that they will be working with as long as they are in math
classes, and even outside of those classes they will see similar concepts. The other piece of
this unit is the problem solving skill the students start to develop. They start being able to
pick out key words that tell them how they need to use something. This is a skill that they
will use for the rest of their life, both with math and in other areas as well. The students are
going to continue to see things from this unit and will be able to start using them in more
advanced ways.

From an individual standpoint, students are going to be able to use concepts from
this unit to figure out different situations in their own lives. They are going to be able to see
how they can figure out prices of things that change over time, or how to figure out how
long something is going to take based on given conditions. Through the word problems in
this unit students are going to start to recognize where they can apply concepts with
expressions and equation in their own lives.

For students at this age, many of the topics in this unit are foreign to them. They are
learning about how math uses letters and what those letters can mean. Without this at the
core of these students knowledge, they are not going to be able to go much further in math
because it is not more than just arithmetic. The students are really figuring out where math
can be used in their lives outside of the classroom by starting to understand what
expressions and equations are and how they can be used.