Lesson 2: Adding and Subtracting Polynomials
Duration of Days: 1
Lesson Objective
Students will be able to add and subtract polynomials by identifying like terms, distributing negative signs during subtraction, and simplifying expressions into standard form.
• Why can we only combine terms that have the same variable and the same exponent?
• How does the distributive property help us subtract one polynomial from another?
Like Terms
Distributive Property
Simplify
Horizontal Method
Vertical Method
HSA-APR.A.1: Understand that polynomials form a system analogous to the integers, namely, they are closed under addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
Description: This lesson focuses on the procedural skills of combining like terms within polynomial expressions.
Purpose: To build the operational fluency required for more advanced algebraic manipulation, such as solving polynomial equations and factoring.
DOK Level: 2 (Skill/Concept)
Subtraction Errors: Forgetting to distribute the negative sign to every term inside the parentheses of the second polynomial.
Exponent Confusion: Attempting to add exponents when combining like terms (e.g., thinking x + x = x^2 instead of 2x).
Color Coding
Algbra Tiles
Exit Ticket
Quiz