1.2 Learn Basic Properties and Operations

Lesson Introduction

photo of a referee

To play any sport, you have to first learn the rules. Beginners often think that rules exist to tell you what you can’t do, but rules actually define what you can do. Good athletes and coaches use the rules to develop strategies that will help their teams become winners.

As in sports, math has rules called properties. These properties define what we can do. Using them, we can create strategies that will help us become winners at problem solving and test taking.

In this lesson, you will learn the properties that allow us to manipulate expressions and solve equations. You will also see how these properties apply to operations.

The math skills that you learn in this lesson will help you make the right decisions when you are solving an algebra problem. Take time to learn the properties so that you can see how math works.