A math equation is a statement that simply says two things are equal. You can differentiate expressions from equations because every equation contains an equals symbol. The premise of these mathematical statements is that this equals that. Algebra is the first time that some concepts may be over the heads of your students. If you follow a consistent routine with how you approach problems, it can be much easier for you to handle. The first thing you should do with any equation is look for like terms and just combine those bad boys right away. Once everything is combined start to work on getting the variable by itself. You can do this by applying the same operation to both sides of the equation to cancel out status quo operators. From here on it generally comes down to basic math skills. You can remember the concept of equal by looking at the root of the word in "equations" (equa or equal). Equations are simply short-hand math. They are great methods for setting up and even solving common everyday math problems. We write math phrases using variables which can be known or unknown values. The anatomy of a basic equation consists of two parts which are variables and constants. In the problem 9 + x = 11, the integers (9 and 11) are constants and the unknown (x) is the variable.

Equations can be in written in a variety of ways including a) numerical expression form such as "the sum of 6 and 2". b) algebraic expressions such as "6 + x = 8". In most cases we are looking for a variable that is unknown. The series of worksheets and lessons that you will find below will help students not only be able to solve for variables in equations, but we will make progress towards writing your own equations for situations that are described for you. This will lead to all out algebraic thinking.