Combining Like Terms Friday, October 26 th , 2012

Objective • The student will be able to simplify algebraic expressions by combining like terms Remember to rate yourself!

x = -5

How does this relate to evaluating expressions?

3

x

 4

y

 2

y = 8

What are the variables in this expression?

How many terms are there in this expression?

What if we didn ’ t know what

x

and

y

were?

What are like terms?

3

x

 4 • What are the terms in this problem?

x

 2 • Which ones seem similar? Why?

• How can we simplify this problem, even though we don ’ t know what

x

is?

These pieces of fruit are being put in a basket. How many of each fruit do you see?

Fruit in the basket.

9a 6b 5g 9a + 6b + 5g + 4w 4w

What if we add some more fruit?

9a + 6b + 5g + 4w + 3a + 2b

9a + 6b + 5g + 4w + 3a + 2b or 12a + 8b + 5g + 4w

Could we do this without pictures?

3

x

 6  7

x

4  8

x

 12 4

x

 7

y

 5

x

 3

y

Practice Time Why did Everybody Hate the Diaper Thief?

• Highlight like terms – Same variable or terms with no variable (called constants) – Combine like terms – Find answer in answer bank

What if we eat some fruit?

4 apples, 5 bananas, 2 watermelon 12a + 8b + 6g + 4w - 4a - 5b - 2w or 8a + 3b + 6g + 2w

Can we combine like terms without pictures?

15a + 2b + 12g + 1w + 5a – 4g + 6w

Simplify the Algebraic Expression (together) 3x + 7y + 4w + 6y – 2x + 5z

Simplify the Algebraic Expression (on own) 10a + 2b + 13c + 3a – 4c + 5b

Practice Time Try • Highlight like terms – Same variable or terms with no variable (called constants) – Combine like terms – Find answer in answer bank