Rational Expressions: Simplifying, Multiplying and Dividing Safecracker Activity

In this fun activity, students will use their skills of simplifying rational expressions to crack the combination of a safe!

This activity is made of four different kinds of problems and has five of each type of question. In this activity, students will:

1. factor quadratics,

2. simplify rational expressions and identify excluded values,

3. multiply rational expression and identify excluded values,

4. divide rational expressions and identify excluded values.

This activity can be used as a worksheet or as an Easel activity or as a combination of both!

At the end of each set of five questions, the students will use their answers in a variety of ways to determine the combination to the safe. In these safecracking activities the students will utilize their previous math learning, specifically using their knowledge of order of operations, median, mode, and range.

In the first five questions, students will practice factoring expressions where a > 1. After they complete the five questions, they will use their answers to solve a series of arithmetic problems, testing their understanding of the order of operations. The answer to their final computation will give them the first number of the safe’s combination.

In the second set of questions, students will simplify rational expressions that are in fractional form and will identify excluded values. After answering five of these questions, students will use their answers to find a path through a numerical maze. As they proceed through the maze, they will encounter circled numbers. These circled numbers are the digits to the next number of the safe’s combination. Note, the circled numbers should be noted in the order the student encounters them in the maze.

In the third set of questions, students will multiply two rational expressions and write the product in simplest terms as well as identify the excluded values. After this activity, students will find the median of their answers to discover the next number of the combination.

In the final activity, students will find the quotient of two rational expressions and determine the excluded values. They will then use their answers and find the sum of the mode and range of their answers for the last number of the safe’s combination.

If you are using this as a printed activity, students can either turn in their final combinations, or they can enter their combinations in an Easel Activity. To have the students check their combinations in Easel, simply assign only the safecracker slides from the included Easel activity (slides 13, 21, 28, 35 and 36).

This entire activity can also be completed in Easel. The students will drag the correct numbers into the marked boxes and can check their work as they go. Each set of questions is separated by safecracker activity in which the students can enter their computer combinations. Note that each numeric solution must be entered as two digits (i.e. 6 will be entered 06).

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