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5th grade · Math · Unit 8 of 12

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.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 5.3.6.2 · numerical expressions with parentheses and the four operations

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 Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 8 of 12 in 5th grade Math, after Mental Math Tricks 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: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

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

    Where do the parentheses go to make 4 + 3 × 3 = 21?

    • (4 + 3) × 3
    • 4 + 3 × 3 (no parentheses)
    • 4 + (3 × 3)

  2. Question 2

    Without calculating: 2 × (1661 + 669) is how many times as large as 1661 + 669?

    • 669
    • 3
    • 1661
    • 2

  3. Question 3

    What is (8 + 5) × 4?

    (8 + 5) × 4 = ?

    • 52
    • 50
    • 55
    • 28
    • 56

  4. Question 4

    What is 3 × [5 + (2 × 9)]?

    • 72
    • 69
    • 153
    • 70
    • 33

  5. Question 5

    Which expression means “multiply 7 by 5, then add 8”?

    • (7 + 8) × 5
    • 7 + 5 × 8
    • 7 × (5 + 8)
    • 7 × 5 + 8

  6. Question 6

    Which expression means “add 6 and 8, then multiply by 4”?

    • 4 × 6 + 8
    • (4 + 6) × 8
    • 6 + 8 × 4
    • 4 × (6 + 8)

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