Question

Tucker was asked to solve the equation 5x + 3 = 6x + 1. He did not know if his first step should be to add 5 negative x-tiles, or 1 negative unit tile, to both sides. What advice would you give Tucker to help him decide on his first step? Explain.

Answer 1

tiles?

Answer 2

Did the original problem actually use the word "tile" (or "tiles")?

"Tucker was asked to solve the equation 5x + 3 = 6x + 1. He did not know if his first step should be to subtract 5x from both sides of the equation, or to subtract 1 from both sides of the equation."

Answer 3

Which would YOU do first?