Ben Coltharp

Lesson Plan #2
Solving System of Equations using Substitution
Objective: Students will be able to solve system of equations using substitution

National Standards:

References:
http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/DevelopmentalMath/COURSE_TEXT2_RESOURCE/
U14_L2_T2_text_final.html

Math XL

Randall Hayes (Cooperating Teacher)

Algebra for College Students – Seventh Edition: Gustafson/Frisk

Geogebra

Prior Knowledge:
 Solving linear equations for one variable
 Graphing Linear Equations with two variables
 Slope-Intercept Form

Terms:
Substitution – the act of replacing something with a thing
Intersection – Where two lines meet, a certain point
Consistent – at least one set of values for the unknowns that satisfies every equation in the
system
Inconsistent – a system of equations that has no solutions

Resources:

1) Warm-up/Bellwork
−4𝑥 − 7 = 9(2𝑥 − 13)
Solve for x
x=5

3𝑥 + 4𝑦 = 52
5𝑥 + 𝑦 = 30
Put into Slope-intercept form and graph

Elimination Problems: Give them a couple minutes to do the two problems. Then, have
the students ‘popcorn’ solve the problem (one student does one step, calls on someone
else to do the next) while I am working out on the board what they are telling me

2
 3𝑥 + 4𝑦 = 52
5𝑥 + 𝑦 = 30
(4,10)

 “What is the first step/goal for solving a system of equation with

the elimination method?”

 “Which variable did you choose to get rid of? Why?”

 “Can you get rid of the x’s?

 “Why did you choose to get rid of y?”

 “How do you ‘get rid of’ the y?”

 “What do you multiply the second equation by?”

 “Why did we choose -4?”

 “Do you just multiply the y by -4?”

 “What would the second equation become?”

 “What do we do now with the equations?”

 “What we do solve for?”

 “Are we done?”

 “How do we find our y variable?”

 “Which equation?”

 “What does our solution (4,10) represent?”

2) Lesson

“On Monday, we learned about one of the ways to solve a system of

equations…Elimination; which personally sounds kind of dark. An approach I like a little
more than Elimination is the Substitution method.

****** experienced this method first-hand; as soon as you injured your leg, Coach
Roderique made a substitution for you. Everywhere place that ****** was going to be,
his substitute was in for him. This is essentially the same thing, where we solve for a
variable, substitute that value into our other equation, so we can solve for the other
variable”
3
 “Let’s look at our first example here. We need to find a variable that equals an
expression, its ‘other name’. Does either equation have something like that?

𝑦 = 2𝑥 − 13
−4𝑥 − 7 = 9𝑦
(5, −3)

*Circle y= and put ‘y’s other name’*

 “From where do we get our y variable?”

 “How do we plug it in?”
 “Does it matter which equation?”
 “Just like elimination, what does our answer represent?”
4𝑥 − 𝑦 = 12
3𝑥 + 4𝑦 = 66

(6,12)

 “If we are going create a list of our process, what’s the first step?”
 “Which one of these equations would be easy to solve for one variable/
Why”
 “How do we solve for it?”
 “Then let’s put a * by the equation we’re going to use” *CLICK*
 “What do we do next? *CLICK*
 “What do we with y’s other expression? Plug it in where?” *CLICK*
 “Now that it’s ‘plugged in’, what do we do now?” *CLICK*

1. Pick either equation and put a * beside it.

2. In the * equation, solve literally for 1 variable (either one).
3. Plug your variable’s other name into the non-*ed equation.
4. Solve for the remaining variable.
5. Plug this value into either original equation to solve for the last variable
6. Check your answer in both.

“Let’s actually tie this to a real-world situation, just like Mr. Hayes critically-acclaimed
one-act play”

4
***PowerPoint Word Problem Example***

“What is the question asking?”

Sponsors + students = 28
X + y = 28

Sponsor ticket price + student ticket price = $600

25x + 20y = $600

X=sponsor tickets
Y=student tickets

8 Sponsor, 20 Students

“With these in mind, let’s go to the boards and practice some examples of graphing
these system of equations. I’m going to give you a system of equations, and then you’ll
graph the lines and find the intersection point.”

𝑦 = 2𝑥 − 13
−4𝑥 − 7 = 9𝑦
(5, −3)

4𝑥 − 𝑦 = 12
3𝑥 + 4𝑦 = 66
(6,12)

“Looking at both the system of equations and their graph, what does our solution
represent on the graph?”

“Now that we’ve looked at two lines intersecting, how else can two lines exist in a
plane?”

“Will lines always intersect?”

“If they don’t intersect, what do we call them?”

“On this next one, I want you to graph the two lines, and then solve using substitution”

7𝑦 + 3𝑥 = 12
14𝑦 + 6𝑥 = 36
12 ≠ 24
5
 *Graphing, then solving Infinitely Many Solutions Example*
“On this next one, I want you to graph the two lines, and then solve using substitution”

4𝑥 + 6𝑦 = 26
2𝑥 + 3𝑦 = 13
13 = 13

“What does it mean to have infinitely many solutions?”

“Looking at our system of equations, what ‘clues’ do we see that can lead us to see that
this is infinitely many solutions?”

Hopefully, they will see that the coefficients can be some sort of multiple of the other,
i.e doubled, tripled

If Time Problems:

1
7𝑦 − 𝑥 = 35
2
1
− 𝑥 + 7𝑦 = 37
2
35 ≠ 37

3𝑦 = 12𝑥 − 6
𝑦 = 3𝑥 + 5
(7,26)

20 = −6𝑥 − 2𝑦
−6𝑥 − 2𝑦 = 24
No Solution

1=𝑥−𝑦
𝑥 + 𝑦 = −1
(0, −1)
3) Closing

“We discussed a lot of things today –

 What was our new method of solving system of equations?
 How is it different than solving using elimination?
 What does it tell us when we get a solution, or not get a solution, graphically? There
are homework problems on Math XL over these two sections, but they go pretty
single-handedly together”

6
Solving Systems of Equations using Substitution and their Graphs

Graph # of Solutions Notes