STANDARDS

CCSS: 3.OA.D.8, MP2, MP4, MP7

TEKS: 3.5A

 

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Teaching Resources

Lesson: Daring to Discover

Objective: Students will determine the unknown value to solve multistep word problems about important women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).

Vocabulary

  • multistep: more than one step is needed to solve
  • unknown value: a value we don’t know, sometimes represented by a variable
  • equation: a mathematical statement that shows two things are equal using an equal sign

Lesson Plan

    Spark Engagement.

Play the video “Breaking Barriers: NASA’s Science Superstar.” Then, before or after reading the article, spark a discussion based on the following questions:

  • What types of careers involve STEM?
  • How long do you think it takes to design an invention? Explain.

    Introduce the math concept and vocabulary.

  • What are some strategies you can use to solve word problems? (Answers will vary. Possible answers: reread the problem, mark up important information, draw a picture or model, etc.)
  • What are some important steps in solving a word problem? Why? (Answers will vary. Possible answers: identifying the unknown information, identifying strategies to solve for the unknowns, solving for the unknowns, etc.)
  • Can a word problem have more than one step to solve? (Yes.) These types of word problems are called multistep.
  • Play the math video “Solving Problems With an Unknown.”

    Work through the "What to Do" box.

  • Why do you think reading the problem twice is recommended? (Answers will vary.)
  • How do you determine which information is unknown? (You identify the information that is needed to help you solve the question being asked.)
  • What was the first unknown that was solved for? (The year the Voting Rights Act was passed, 1965.)
  • Could this problem have been solved another way? (Yes; answers will vary. Possible answer: You could have taken the current year, 2021, subtracted 1920, and then subtracted 45.)

    Reinforce with math practice.

Have students complete problems 1 through 3 on page 5 of the article.

Teacher's Tip

Encourage students to visualize a multistep word problem by drawing a diagram or model. Then have them label the parts that represent the unknown value(s).   

—Victoria J. Dixon, San Antonio, TX

Differentiate & Extend

Skills Sheets: Level Down: Word Problem and Expression Match (3.NBT.A.2; 3.OA.A.3) | On Level: DynaDash: Steps for Solving Multistep Word Problems (3.OA.D.8) | Level Up: Solving Word Problems With Unknowns (4.OA.A.2, 4.OA.A.3)

SEL (Social-emotional learning activity/prompt): In this article, students learned about women who overcame many obstacles. Have an open-ended class discussion about the question “What does equality mean to you?” Allow students to write down or share their responses, encouraging respectful discourse.

Dynamath@Home: Have students choose a woman who they consider important and write their own multistep word problem about her. They can choose a family member or research a person in books or online. Allow students to share their word problems with the class to solve.   

Download a printable PDF of this lesson plan.

Share an interactive slide deck with your students.

Text-to-Speech