Math Balances

We are working on understanding the meaning of the equals sign. To help us with this we have been using a math balance scale. We are learning to balance our equations on this scale. For example, if we have 5 on one side of the scale, we could have 3 and 2 on the other side. Or we could have 4 and 1 on the other side. Or we could have 5 on the other side. We are also working on using equation notation to show how we balanced our scale. Here are a few of the ways we have learned to write equations to show what we have on our balance scale:

5=5

5=3+2

4+1=5

1+4=2+3

10=3+3+3+1

These are just a few examples. We have used many other numbers and mathematical situations with our scales and with story problems and other math tools.