Grades 6–8
Thin-sliced one- and two-step equations
Thin-sliced practice for solving one-step and two-step equations, all on one screen. Each round is a question type, and each step inside a round changes just one thing from the step before.
Open the activity in Amplify ClassroomWatch the build
In Amplify it's called "Solving Equations". To assign it, you'll need an Amplify Classroom teacher account, which is free.
What's in it
- Round 1, Adding and Subtracting, and Round 2, Multiplying and Dividing, use positive numbers only, so these two rounds fit grade 6.
- Round 3, Two Steps, puts Rounds 1 and 2 together.
- Round 4, Mixed, uses any form from Rounds 1 to 3.
- The bonus, Negative Coefficients, is an extension for groups that finish and a preview of the next lesson.
- A group moves on after two in a row on each step, counting only first tries.
How to run it
One device per group at the whiteboard, passed around like the marker. The device makes and checks the problems; the thinking and talking happen at the board.
What I said to ChatGPT
This is everything I typed, exactly as ChatGPT received it, all in one message.
Build a one-slide thin-sliced practice activity on solving one-step and two-step equations, in four rounds plus a bonus. Above each problem, show the round's name ("Round 2: Multiplying and Dividing", or "Bonus: Negative Coefficients"), the step in Rounds 1 to 3 ("Step 3 of 5"; the fifth is "Step 5 of 5: Mixed"), and the streak ("Streak: 1 of 2"; in the bonus, the current and best streaks).
Round 1, "Adding and Subtracting": steps x + 5 = 12, then 12 = x + 5, then 12 = x - 5, then x - 5 = 12, then a mixed step.
Round 2, "Multiplying and Dividing": steps 3x = 12, then 12 = 3x, then 12 = x/3, then x/3 = 12, then a mixed step.
Round 3, "Two Steps": steps 2x + 4 = 10, then 2x - 4 = 10, then x/2 - 4 = 10, then x/2 + 4 = 10, then a mixed step.
Round 4, "Mixed": any form from Rounds 1 to 3.
Bonus, "Negative Coefficients": two-step equations like -4x + 3 = 19, endless, with a best streak.
Each form step needs 2 in a row. The first problem of a step keeps the numbers students saw in the problem just before it (the multiplier or divisor, the number added or subtracted, and the number alone on the other side), so only the form changes; the answer is whatever the new form gives. After that, numbers are new. The first step of each round starts with new numbers. Round 3's very first problem comes in two parts: first they find what the x-term equals (for 2x + 4 = 10, that's 2x = 6), then x; this two-part problem doesn't count toward the streak. Each round's mixed step uses new numbers and shuffles that round's four forms, so every form comes up once before any repeats; it needs 3 in a row to unlock the next round. Round 4 needs 5 in a row to unlock the bonus.
A problem counts toward a streak only if it's right on the first try. Correct: show "Correct!" with the next problem right away, or "Correct! Next step." or "Correct! Round 3 unlocked." (or "Bonus unlocked.") when that answer finishes a step or round. Wrong: show "Try again", keep the same problem, and reset the streak. Students use a single Check button: no hint, skip or next button.
Every problem is randomly generated, with multipliers from 2 to 9 and added or subtracted numbers from 1 to 20; the number alone on the other side of the equals sign can be whatever the answer needs. Before the bonus, every number in an equation is positive. Answers in Rounds 1 to 4 are whole numbers, never 1: from 2 to 40 in Round 1's forms (wherever they appear), from 2 to 12 whenever x is multiplied (like 3x = 12 or 2x + 4 = 10), and up to 200 whenever x is divided (like x/3 = 12). Bonus answers are negative, from -2 to -12. In the first three form steps of each round, only draw numbers that still give an allowed answer when kept for the next form step (2x + 4 = 10 is allowed because 2x - 4 = 10 gives 7), so every step change keeps the numbers. When numbers are new, choose the answer first, evenly from the answers these rules allow, then each other number evenly from the values that still work, so no number turns up more than its share, answers can't be guessed from the equation, and equations rarely repeat. Only count an answer typed as a plain number (a negative sign is fine); if they type anything else, show "Type just a number" and don't count it as a try. If the box is empty when they press Check, nothing happens.
Put each component's code in its own code block here in the chat, not in attached files.
Then 2 short replies in the same chat
After recording, I checked the activity against my request and found two small differences. I sent one short reply for each in the same chat and pasted the replacement it gave me. Each reply changed only what I asked for.
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This all looks good except one detail: in Rounds 1 and 2, steps 3 and 4 are in the opposite order from my prompt (step 3 should be 12 = x - 5, then step 4 x - 5 = 12; and 12 = x/3, then x/3 = 12). Please fix only that, and give me the full replacement CL for any component that changes.
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One more detail: the round name shows with asterisks around it on every screen, like **Round 1: Adding and Subtracting**. Please remove the asterisks so it shows as plain text, change nothing else, and give me the full replacement CL for any component that changes.
Make your own version
Copy the request, change whatever you like (the topic, the numbers, the goal), and paste it into the plugin as one message. It tells you which pieces to add in Amplify's activity builder and what to paste into each one.
To find it yourself, open ChatGPT, click Plugins and search for Desmos. On a school-managed ChatGPT account, an admin might have to enable it first. The plugin does make mistakes sometimes, so preview what it builds before you assign anything.