# Doodles Do Algebra – Lesson 43

Update: This Lesson Is Part of Book 3 of Doodles Do Algebra: “The Basic Math of Algebra” available on Amazon.

Worksheet:

Available in the book, “The Basic Math of Algebra, Book 3 of Doodles Do Algebra“

Today DoodlePoodle takes rewriting statements from verbal form to algebraic form one step further and introduces parentheses. He also promises your child that if she still doesn’t understand it, then Mommy will explain it a different way. So in case you could use a pointer, here is a different way: If you go back to the distributive property, or hippo hopping as we call it, then the -(b-c) part of the problem is the same as $-1*(b-c)$ which is $-1*b - -1*c$, which is $-b + c$ (since a negative times a negative is a positive. If your child sticks on this point and has trouble, tell her not to worry, she will see it again many times and she will understand.

Problem 1. $ax-5y$ (remember here to add/subtract like kinds only – no subtracting space ships from jelly beans!)
Problem 2. $3xyz$ (the other two term types are zero)