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5th grade · Math · Unit 11 of 15

Parentheses & Expressions

Brackets first!

What your child practices

Evaluating expressions with parentheses and brackets, writing an expression from words, and reading an expression without calculating it.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 5.1 · writing and evaluating numerical expressions with parentheses

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Do what is inside parentheses ( ) first, then brackets [ ].
  2. Then multiply and divide, left to right.
  3. Then add and subtract, left to right.

Example: What is 3 × [2 + (4 × 5)]? 4 × 5 = 20. 2 + 20 = 22. 3 × 22 = 66. Answer: 66

Parentheses & Expressions in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 11 of 15 in 5th grade Math, after Converting Units and before Coordinate Grid.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which expression means “subtract 7 from 20, then divide by 5”?

    • 20 − 7 ÷ 5
    • 7 − 20 ÷ 5
    • (20 − 7) ÷ 5
    • (7 − 20) ÷ 5

  2. Question 2

    What is 5 × (7 + 6)?

    5 × (7 + 6) = ?

    • 65
    • 41
    • 64
    • 70
    • 66

  3. Question 3

    Where do the parentheses go to make 3 + 2 × 2 = 10?

    • (3 + 2) × 2
    • 3 + (2 × 2)
    • 3 + 2 × 2 (no parentheses)

  4. Question 4

    Without calculating: 5 × (2505 + 131) is how many times as large as 2505 + 131?

    • 131
    • 2505
    • 5
    • 6

  5. Question 5

    What is 3 × [6 + (3 × 9)]?

    • 45
    • 99
    • 100
    • 189
    • 102

  6. Question 6

    Which expression means “multiply 7 by 5, then add 2”?

    • 7 + 5 × 2
    • 7 × (5 + 2)
    • 7 × 5 + 2
    • (7 + 2) × 5

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