Lesson 4

In middle school, students learned that a solution to an equation is a value or values that make the equation true. In this lesson, they revisit what they learned about solutions to equations in one variable and two variables. They also continue to practice modeling relationships with equations and to make sense of equations and their solutions in context (MP2, MP4).

Students verify and find solutions to given equations by checking if the values satisfy the equations and by reasoning. Some students may choose to solve equations algebraically or by performing certain sequences of steps they learned in middle school, but students are not expected to rely on algebraic methods to answer questions here. A little later in the unit, students will take a close look at the moves for rewriting and solving equations.

In the next lesson, students will revisit the idea that coordinate pairs that are on a graph of an equation in two variables are solutions to the equation.