A warm-up for the start of class, before students play or start the worksheet. It reviews missing numbers and expressions using things students see every day, then asks them to think ahead to a two-step equation. Two tickets print on each page; cut along the dashed line. The answer key prints on its own page after it.
2. 3 notebooks cost $12 in all. What does one cost?
$
3. Find 2x + 3 when x = 5.
4.Think ahead: a scale has 2x + 3 on one side and 11 on the other. What is x? What did you do first?
Answer Key: Entry Ticket
Keep It Balanced
x = 9
12 รท 3 = $4
2(5) + 3 = 13
x = 4. Most students take away the 3 first (11 − 3 = 8), then split 8 into 2 equal groups. That's exactly today's two steps: undo the adding, then undo the multiplying.
Quick read: 16 on #3 means the student added before multiplying (2 × 8). Students who solve #4 by guess-and-check are ready to learn the inverse-operation steps; ask them to explain their guesses.