Designing a Mathematical Task

Learning Goal
Students will be able to graph an equation on a grid, after finding
the numerical expression (including variable) from the word
problem.

Standard
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.EE.B.4.A Solve word problems leading to
equations of the form px + q = r and p(x + q) = r, where p, q, and
r are specific rational numbers. Solve equations of these forms
fluently. Compare an algebraic solution to an arithmetic solution,
identifying the sequence of the operations used in each approach.
For example, the perimeter of a rectangle is 54 cm. Its length is 6
cm. What is its width?

TASK
Part 1
Jazmine likes to listen to music but only has a CD player at home.
She decides she wants to buy a new device to listen to music
when she is not at home. For her birthday, she received $45.
Every week, she gets an allowance of $4.50 for doing her chores.
You need to help Jazmine figure out how long it will take her to
have enough money to buy a new music player that costs $83.30.
1) Create a table that shows how many weeks she has been
saving and what her total is, after she earns her allowance.
2) How could you represent this on a graph? What would you
put on your x-axis and y-axis label?
a. How many weeks do you need to graph? Why do you
think you can stop there?
b. What is the slope of the graph? Is there another way
that you can determine the slope by using only the
table data?
3) What would the equation of the line be?
(In slope intercept form y=mx+b)
Part 2
I think of a number, add 7, and then multiply by 4. My answer is
80. What was my number? (Write the equation, also.)

Extension
Can you explain the difference between the way that (x) was
multiplied in the two equations that you found in Part 1 and Part
2?

Answer Key
Part 1
Jazmine likes to listen to music but only has a CD player at home.
She decides she wants to buy a new device to listen to music
when she is not at home. For her birthday, she received $45.
Every week, she gets an allowance of $4.50 for doing her chores.
You need to help Jazmine figure out how long it will take her to
have enough money to buy a new music player that costs $83.30.
1) Create a table that shows how many weeks she has been
saving and what her total is, after she earns her allowance.
Week
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

$
Added
45
4.50
4.50
4.50
4.50
4.50
4.50
4.50
4.50
4.50

Total $
45.00
49.50
54.00
58.50
63.00
67.50
72.00
76.50
81.00
85.50

2) How could you represent this on a graph?

a. How many weeks do you need to graph? 9

b. Why do you think you can stop there? Because 9 totals
$85.50 and Jazmine only needs $83.30.
c. What is the slope of the graph? 4.5/1 or 4.5
d. Is there another way that you can determine the slope
by using only the table data? Yes (Y2-Y1)/(X2-X1)
Example using points (3,58.5) and (4,63)
(63-58.5) = 4.5
(4-3)
1 or 4.5

3) What would the equation of the line be? (In slope intercept
form y=mx+b) Y=4.5x + 45

Part 2
I think of a number, add 7, and then multiply by 4. My answer is
80. What was my number? (Write the equation, also.)
4(x+7)= 80, when solving x=13
4) What would the answer be if x=18? If x= 8? Explain how
the answers changed in relationship to the X value. The
answer would be 25. When the x value went up by 5, the
answer went up by 20. When x=8, the x-value went down
by 5 and the answer went down by 20
5) Does this increase in a linear fashion, like the example from
Part 1? Prove your answer. Yes, as X gets bigger, so does
the answer. Students should make a table, graph points, or
solve for the answer via algebra, in order to prove this.
X value
5
10
13
15
20

Answer
48
68
80
88
108

Extension
Can you explain the difference between the way that (x) was
multiplied in the two equations that you found in Part 1 and Part
2?
Part 1, the equation is y=4.5x + 45
Part 2 , equation is 4(x+7)= 80
In the first equation, the x is multiplied by a number then added
to another. The second equation, the x is added to a number first
then multiplied. The value (or answer) from part 2, gets bigger
faster because we multiplied the values added. The answer for

part 1 takes more time because we are not multiplying by the

number that is added in.

Rationale
Middle school students are moving from concrete to abstract
thinking. Educators are trying to follow this change with their
curriculum and lessons. My task that I have designed is one of
those tasks that is leading and transforming middle school
students from the concrete word problem to the abstract equation
that they can now process.

The authors of Developing

Mathematical Habits of Mind, mention that students have trouble

with certain areas of math. The two that I am concentrating on
are expressing generality with algebraic notation and
understanding slope, graphing lines and finding equation. This
task can be used as a classroom discussion, group activity or
individual assignment, based on the students needs. It could be
useful for students who are just beginning to understand
algebraic expressions and graphing, if the teacher gives more
hands on assistance; or it can be used as a wrap up lesson for
students who have nearly mastered these ideas.

In Part 1, students will make a general equation from a

repeated calculation and graph the equation. In Part 2, they will
form an equation from a word problem, and then graph it. I feel
that the graphing portion is essential to the lesson because
students are struggling so much with graphing and understanding
slope. They have been learning how to read story problems for
most of elementary school, now is the time to transform their
reading into connecting pre-algebraic calculations to an
algebraic process. (Mark, p. 506)
The learning goal for this task is that students will be able to
graph an equation on a grid, after formulating the equation from
the word problem. The first concept that I would like students to
work on is building and using algebraic expressions and
equations. They will be taking the information from the word
problems and making algebraic expressions, which leads to
equations. From the equation, students are learning the parts and
forms of an equation, for example the y-intercept and slope, slope
intercept form. The final big idea is that of graphing an
equation. There are many smaller parts to this, which involve

knowing the parts of the equation, how to solve for the equation,
how to plot points on a graph.
I feel that this task is of the higher-level demands, in the
procedures with connections category. I put it in this category
because it requires students to focus on the use of procedures
for the purpose of developing deeper levels of understanding of
mathematical concepts and ideas. The word problems can be
done without the questions (and make it more of a doing
mathematics task) but I feel that since students generally
struggle with algebraic expressions and graphing, it is important
for students to get a grasp on the procedures. I tried to make the
questions open to a broad general procedure, as opposed to
narrow algorithms. The task is asking students to basically write
an expression and then graph it. Knowing how to write an
expression is an underlying concept for algebra. This task will
have multiple representations for the answer, which is a third
requirement for procedures with connections. Students will
display their answers as a graph, function and table. This will
help them make connections to develop meaning. The fourth
requirement insists that the task will require some cognitive

effort. If the task is used as a beginning lesson for expressions

and equations, it could be more stressful than if it was used more
as a summative assessment for the unit. However, the task
cannot be followed mindlessly. Students will have to know their
vocabulary and basic concepts of variables in order to produce
their own equation and graph it.
The reading that most supported my task design was the
Developing Mathematical Habits of Mind article. I had a really
hard time getting started on the path of this activity. When I was
struggling with my first attempt at a task, I decided to step back a
little and re-read this article. It made me realize that I want to
concentrate on the major concepts and look at the areas that
students seem to struggle with. As I mentioned at the beginning
of my rationale, expressing generality with algebraic notation
and understanding slope, graphing lines and finding equation
are two of the five major areas that students struggle with in
mathematics, in general. I thought that trying to pull those
concepts into a lesson that displays an equation in multiple ways
would be helpful to students. Next, I went to the book by Gurl, et
al. that discusses Common Core Standards. It helped me

separate out some of the terminology, to make sure that I was

using the correct vocabulary related to expressions and
equations. I realized that I need to have an awareness of where
variables will fit in. From looking at my standard that is used for
my learning goal and information from this text, this task would
be taught to 7th grade students within an expressions and
equations unit. I furthered my understanding of the difference
between an expression and an equation with the reading of the
Progression for the Common Core State Standards in Math. It
thoroughly explains how we evolve from teaching expressions
with variables to putting it into equation form. The equation
would have an equal sign and have two expressions on each side
of the equal sign. This equation can be manipulated and
eventually graphed, in many cases. That is what I am aiming for
during this task, the various representations of an equation.
I think that the students will be able to connect to the realworld type problem that is presented. The introduction of the
problem does not seem too overwhelming for students to dive
into. I think that they will be able to start with a basic table,
setting up appropriate columns. My hope is that through this

table, students will start seeing the connection of the dollar value
to the variable. I set this up in a way that seemed like a logical
progression for their thought processes. The class discussion, if
warranted, would go in the progression of the task. Once they get
an equation figured out, then they can graph that. I anticipate
that this will be a spot where students are going to struggle. They
are going to forget slope-intercept form (which I put in
parentheses for the task) and forget what each portion of the
equation stands for. This might become the area where I have to
implement more of a class discussion factor, where we graph an
equation or two on the board/ELMO. The second part of the task
would be more of individual work. I would expect that students
could do this if we had to utilize class discussion to get through
the first part. I did not press as many questions during Part 2 of
the task, expecting that the students would have an
understanding of how to come up with answers. The extension
part is basically for the higher level learners who would
understand all of this and be able to sum it up with sentences. I
expect that some students (maybe 25% of them) would make it to
this part. Hopefully all of them will attempt it.

In regards to unproductive strategies, I think that some

students might have a problem just setting up the table format. I
tried to write it in my sentence directions, but I know that some
students dont follow what they read. If they cannot get the table
set up, by the end of the task, they are asked to write the
equation for the line, which would also be the algebraic
expression from the word problem. The task is leading them to
the answer in 3 different ways. If students get stuck at one path,
the questions for the task lead them to another. I would point
them in the other direction by directing them back to the task.
The second part of the task has students start right off with an
equation from a word problem. If students are stuck on part 1,
they can go to part 2 and see that we are looking at equations.
This might help lead them. Some students see equations better
than tables or graphs. I think that one major misconception that
students might encounter is not putting a variable in their
equation or putting it in the wrong place. They need to
understand where the variable will be; for example, if there are
parentheses, does the variable go inside or outside of them?
Another problem that I anticipate with the second part of the task

is that students will forget order of operations and not add the
variable before multiplying when they are testing values. I think
this is important because that is the core of this standard. They
need to understand how to appropriately use order of operations
with variables in place of real numbers.
In regards to supporting students who are not in the
mainstream understanding, I have a couple of ideas that could be
helpful. For ELL students, I could rewrite the story problem in
very simple English and leave out the non-important, filler details.
I could also show them examples of smaller steps in the process,
such as some basic pre-algebra problems from maybe 5 th grade
math, so that they can better understand the process that is
being asked. For students who are struggling, I feel that breaking
apart the problem into smaller portions would be easier.
Sometimes, students with challenges see the whole problem and
freak out. I could first ask them to make an expression from the
word problem. Then have them check it with me. We could
discuss how this could make an equation, the parts of the
equation, and then have them graph it. It would be nearly the

same assignment, but breaking it into parts so they dont feel

overwhelmed.
This assignment would be turned into me when completed.
This is the sort of work that I would need to review to see if the
student understands it all. It is broken down in such a way that I
could pin point areas that students are struggling, which would be
helpful to know where to remediate. If I feel that students were
not successful at completing the learning goal, I would do a class
discussion and work through a problem similar to this activity and
probably find a computer program that gives them more practice
with these concepts.

Resources
Common Core Standards Writing Team. Progressions for the
Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (draft). Brookhill
Foundation. April 2011. Web: October 8, 2014.
Gurl, Theresa et al. Implementing the Common Core State
Standards Through Mathematical Problem Solving, Grades 68. Reston: The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc.
2013. Print. Pgs. 73-89.

Mark, June, Cuoco, Al, Goldenberg, Paul, and Sword, Sarah.

Developing Mathematical Habits of Mind. Mathematics Teaching
in Middle School. No.9 (May 2010): 505-509.