Georgia 8.MP.7
The Standard
Look for and make use of structure.
Georgia's K-12 Mathematics Standards · Display perseverance and patience in problem-solving. Demonstrate skills and strategies needed to succeed in mathematics, including critical thinking, reasoning, and effective collaboration and expression. Seek help and apply feedback. Set and monitor goals.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students look for repeated parts, common factors, and familiar patterns in expressions, equations, graphs, tables, and shapes. They use those patterns to simplify work, solve problems, and explain their reasoning.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students recognize repeated factors, equivalent forms, and patterns in equations, tables, graphs, and diagrams. They choose a useful form and explain how it makes a solution shorter or clearer.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may spot a pattern but cannot explain how it helps them solve the problem. They often miss common factors, mishandle negative signs, or distribute across only one term.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Solve 7(x - 2) + 3(x - 2) = 50, then name the repeated structure you used.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Use algebra tiles to model 3(x + 2) + 2(x + 2), combine repeated groups, and record the equivalent expression.
Ask students to compare 5(x - 4) = 35 and 5x - 20 = 35, then explain which form helps them solve.
Run a card sort matching expressions, equations, tables, and diagrams that share the same repeated pattern or relationship.
Have students write and simplify a cost expression for six identical meal orders, each with one entrée, one drink, and tax.
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Printable 8.MP.7 Worksheet
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