Combine Like Terms
Lesson Objective:
Students will be able to simplify expressions by combining like terms.
Student-Facing Learning Target:
I can combine like terms to simplify an expression.
Vocabulary:
1.) Like Terms: terms that have the same variable raised to the same exponent
2.) Coefficient: an integer that is written along with a variable
3.) Invisible Coefficient: when there is no number in front of the variable the coefficient is 1
Do Now:
Alexis is trying to save to buy a TV, and puts money in her piggy bank to help her save. She puts $10 in her piggy bank 3 times a week. Write as many different expressions as you can that represents the total money Alexis saved this week.
Part One: Combining Like Terms
When we have an expression or an equation with multiple terms, sometimes we can combine them to simplify our expression or equation. For example:
When we see this expression we can see there are multiple terms but some have the same as others.
We can look to combine terms that have the same variable and the same exponents.
Looking at the expression above, we can identify multiple numbers that can be combined.
Both have a variable of x and an exponent of 2 so we can combine them by adding the bases (the numbers) together to get .
Both have a variable of x and an exponent of 1 so we can combine them by using our integer rules to get .
Both don't have any variables attached to them so we can combine them by using our integer rules to get .
Now we can put our answers together to get a simplified expression of: