Education Technology

# Expressions and Equations / Visualizing Linear Expressions

Activity 9 of 18
In this lesson students will use the distributive property to rewrite expressions for a given context in order to make connections between the scenario and the expression(s) that describe it.

## Planning and Resources

Objectives
Students should be able to find equivalent expressions using the distributive property and interpret visual representations of the distributive property, i.e., ax+bx = (a+b)x and a(b+c) = ab+ac

Vocabulary
linear expressions
distributive property

Standard:

## Lesson Snapshot

#### Understanding

Students develop an understanding of how the distributive property connects the operation of multiplication to the operation of addition.

### What to look for

Students can use the distributive property to write equivalent expressions involving the operations of multiplication and addition.

### Sample Assessment

Select all the expressions that are equivalent to $$8(t+4)$$.

a. $$2(4t+2)$$
b. $$t+32$$
c. $$4t+4+4t$$
d. $$(8+t)+(8+4)$$
e. (8 x $$t)$$ + (8 x 4)

Answer: b and e

#### The Big Idea

The distributive property relates the addition and multiplication of real numbers and is central in creating equivalent expressions involving those operations.

### What are the students doing?

Students use different visual models to make connections between the distributive property and the order of operations when creating equivalent expressions.

### What is the teacher doing?

Encourage students to explore the visual models and look for the connections between the representation and the application of the distributive property.