Games for Educators

Math Concepts:

+, –, x, /, order of operations

Materials:

Paper, pencil

Players

1- 6

Play

Where you choose to put parentheses can change the value of an expression. For example 5- 3 + 1 can become either 5- (3 + 1) = 1 or (5- 3) + 1 = 3. The challenge in these puzzles is to take a string of numbers and operations and insert parentheses into the string, as needed, to get the value be the target value.

Example

Find the places to put parentheses in 10- 3- 5- 2 + 8- 4 to make its value 6. One answer for where to put the parentheses is: 10- (3 – (5 – 2) + 8 – 4) = 6.

Create

Create these puzzles by taking any equation, such as 9 = (2 + 7) x (5 – 2 x 2) and remove the parentheses. The challenge for your child is how to take 2 + 7 x 5 – 2 x 2 and add parentheses to it so that the result is 9.