The What's, Why's, and When's of Order of Operations

I. What is the Order of Operations?

Imagine driving your vehicle to go to work or school. Suddenly, you start hearing
a loud constant noise from the back side of
your vehicle. You park your car to the side of
the road to check what is happening and you
find out your vehicle has a flat tire. You must
get to work or school as soon as possible, so
there is no choice to wait for help. You decide
to change the flat tire. List the steps you must
take to change the flat tire of your vehicle.
Remember about safety!

List steps to change a flat tire:

a. Get spare
b. Get tools
c. Loose bolts
d. Jack up car
e. Take out bolts
f. Replace tire
g. Put bolts back
h. Lower car
i. Tight bolts
j. Clean up & go

This example illustrates the concept of order of operations. Explain in your own
words what the order of operations is.

– Order of operations is a list of steps

I. Why we need the Order of Operations?

Read the following comic strip:

Based on the comic strip, explain why

we need the order of operations.

– We need the order of operations so we could get the same answer.

 I. When do we use Order of Operations?

– When more than one symbol of operation is an expression. It is agreed to

complete the operations in a certain order using PEMDAS.

Write an expression that simplifies to 3. Your expression must

contain exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, and at least one
set of parenthesis. Explain the process you would use to simplify the expression.
Use Equation Editor to write and simplify the expression.

12+6-2÷2×1

12+4÷2×1

1+4÷2×1

1+2×1

1+2

=3
Reference:

Image Source for flat tire - http://www.flickr.com/photos/apoptotic/1333823258/