OBJECTIVE:

By the end of the lesson, you

will be able to explain the
relationship where expressions
on each side of the equal sign
represent the same value
answering three out of four
questions correctly.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this lesson is to
help students understand when
you combine things on one side
it must be the same value as the
other side of an equation. One
example of when this is helpful
is when adding money up to an
exact amount.

MANIPULATIVES USED:
Scale and goldfish

CONCRETE:
Question: Johnny and his dad
went to the lake this weekend
for a fishing trip. Johnny caught
4 fish the first day and 2 fish the
second day. Johnnys dad caught
3 fish the first day and 3 fish the

second day. Who caught more

fish total?
We are going to use this scale
to help us understand that
expressions on both sides of
an equal sign are the same.
Lets look at how many fish
Johnny and his dad had using
goldfish and this scale. Johnny
caught 4 fish the first day and
his dad caught 3. We can tell
by the scale that Johnny
caught more fish the first day
because the scale is lower on
his side.
Now lets add the fish from
the second day. Johnny
caught 2 fish the second day
and his day caught 3. When
we add these to the scale, the

scale is balance meaning

there amount of fish are
equal on both sides.

Higher-level question: How many

more fish did Johnnys dad need
to catch on the first day to have
the same as Johnny and make
the scale balanced?

REPRESENTATIONAL:
Question: Johnny and his dad
went to the lake this weekend
for a fishing trip. Johnny caught
4 fish the first day and 2 fish the
second day. Johnnys dad caught
3 fish the first day and 3 fish the

second day. Who caught more

fish total?

Lets envision the scale we

just looked at while we solve
this problem with visual
representations.
We will first look at how many
fish Johnny and his dad after
the first day of fishing. I am
going to draw 4 fish for
Johnny and 3 fish for his dad. I
am also going to draw these
on a scale so we can see that
if we had a scale, the 4 fish
Johnny had would make the

balance go down. And we can

also see 4 is not the same as
3.
If we add their fish from day
2, we see Johnny has 6 total
fish and Johnnys dad has six
total fish. If we represent this
on a scale, we can see Johnny
and his dad have the same
number of fish and the scale
is balanced.
Higher-level question: If Johnny
caught 2 more fish total, would
Johnny or his dad have caught
more fish total?

ABSTRACT:

Question: Johnny and his dad

went to the lake this weekend
for a fishing trip. Johnny caught
4 fish the first day and 2 fish the
second day. Johnnys dad caught
3 fish the first day and 3 fish the
second day. Who caught more
fish total?

Now we are going to solve the

same problem using only
words and numbers.
We know Johnnys day 1 +
Johnnys day 2 = Dads day 1
+ Dads day 2

 Therefore 4+2= 3+3

And 6 = 6
We can also write this the
other way and say Dads day
1 + Dads day 2 = Johnnys
day 1 + Johnnys day 2
Therefore 3+3= 4+2
And 6 = 6
Equations can be written
either way and the values
around the equal sign are still
the same

Higher-level question: If Johnnys

dad caught 5 fish on day one
and 4 fish on day 2 and Johnny
caught 6 fish on day one and 3

fish on day two, did they catch

the same number of fish?

PREREQUISITE SKILLS:
Counting
Adding
Expressions

ACADEMIC VOCABULARY:
Expression: number symbols
and operators (such as +,-)
grouped together that show
the value of something
Scale: object used to compare
the weight of objects
Equal: having the same value

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Markers
Paper