Collecting like terms

A hands-on activity on how to teach collecting like terms using reversible (white/red) unit squares and strips. This powerpoint presentation was made for a workshop presented for the Mathematical Association of Victoria at its annual conference in December 2012, by *Stephen Swift. The system used here can also be used to model balancing equations, expansions and factorisations.

*Stephen Swift is an experienced mathematics teacher who has taught all levels of secondary school mathematics. He is the lead author of Nelson Think Maths 7–10 and Nelson Senior Maths for the Australian Curriculum: Mathematical Methods and Specialist Mathematics.