Solve It: Both Sides
Solve equations by choosing what to do to both sides. Each move writes the next line of working.
About this activity
Eight linear equations, from x + 6 = 16 to brackets, x divided by a number and x on both sides. Students choose add, subtract, multiply or divide and a number (or a number of x’s), and the activity does it to both sides and writes the next line of working. Each equation has to be solved within a few moves; if the moves run out, a neat method is shown. The numbers change every time. The content is the same on every exam board, on both tiers.
How to use Solve It: Both Sides
- Solve It: Both Sides is a free Maths activity for Years 9 to 11 that takes about 12 minutes. Try it on this page on a computer, tablet or phone: there’s nothing to download.
- In a lesson, choose Show on the board to play it together as a class.
- To set it for a class, a teacher shares it and gets a code: students type the 6-digit code at lycolearn.co.uk/join with their first name and the first letter of their surname (no accounts needed), and their scores come back to the teacher.
Students will
- Solve one-step and two-step equations by doing the same to both sides
- Solve equations with x on both sides, with brackets and with x divided by a number
- Set out working one line at a time
Teaching tips
- Put it on the board and ask the class to vote on the next move before you press it.
- The working it builds is exactly the layout that earns method marks in the exam.