AimeeM Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Is it common for a teacher to require students to use distributive property with problems that have no variables? In other words, for a problem like this: 5 (3+5) ... requiring that they use distributive property to solve it - not OOP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kagmypts Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I don't know if it is "common" or not, but I would think that the answer would depend on the age of the child. For the younger kids, I think that OOP makes a lot more sense. However, as the kids get older and begin to segue into pre-algebra/algebra, I can understand why a teacher would require a student to use the distributive property. The teacher probably wants to make sure that the student understands the distributive property with actual numbers before introducing variables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchyGirl Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Beast Academy does this in third grade. I was surprised but i am amazed with how well the concept has cemented in his brain and the freedom it is giving jim yo work with order of ops, large numbers, and variables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I required it from DS when he was learning the distributive property. I also made him factor. 15+25= 5*(3+5) = 40 AoPS Pre-Algebra had several problems that were easier to solve when the distributive property was used. After DS "proved" the distributive property multiple times with numbers, simplifying equations with single variables was easy for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 The programs we have used taught it both ways. It was a good early intro to the distributive property & helped them see that it really works on easy problems first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matrips Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I could see insisting on it if you are teaching the distributive property. Since it's an easy problem, they may be able to understand it better than a harder type later. When we did long division here, I had my kids use it even on the ones they could do in there head. That way they could focus on learning the process, and easily see how it worked. Is it common for a teacher to require students to use distributive property with problems that have no variables? In other words, for a problem like this: 5 (3+5) ... requiring that they use distributive property to solve it - not OOP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 I've always seen distributive property taught that way, with numbers first. I thought it was so you can see that it works clearly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 I would definitely teach it both ways, and I teach distributive property early so it can then be applied to problems like 15X24 = 15*(20+4)= 15*20 + 15*4 What is OOP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kagmypts Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 I would definitely teach it both ways, and I teach distributive property early so it can then be applied to problems like 15X24 = 15*(20+4)= 15*20 + 15*4 What is OOP? Order of Operations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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