Basic Math

So far in the last week we have worked on reviewing our basic math skills. We have practiced adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. Your homework at the end of this section was to complete the Math Maze. For further practice on Basic Math Skills, visit the following website and try some of the math games.

Order of Operations: BEDMAS

The order that you do a math equation will effect the answer. Unlike English that reads from left to right, the language of Math has rules to tell you what to do first. It is important to follow these rules or your answer will be incorrect.

For example: 2 x 4 - 6(3-1) = ?     If you complete it from left to right it would be
                         8 - 6(3-1)= ?
                             2(3-1)= ?
                                6-1= ?
                                  5

While the real answer should be -4

The proper way to read the equation is by following the acronym BEDMAS, which stands for

1. B - Brackets    Do everything in curved then square brackets first.

2. E - Exponents    Next convert all your exponents to expanded form. ex. 3 squared is 9.

3. D - Divide   Complete all the division you find and convert fractions as they are a form of division.

4. M - Multiply   Complete all forms of multiplication. example 2(3-4) is a form of multiplication.

5. A and S - Add and Subtract as they appear from left to right.

Using this technique the above example would be as follows:

                 2 x 4 - 6(3-1) = ?
Brackets   2x4 - 6(2)=?
Multiply   8 - 12=?
Subtract   -4