EdPlace's Year 6 Home Learning Maths Lesson: Order of Operations (BIDMAS)

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Get them started on the lesson below and then jump into our teacher-created activities to practice what they've learnt. We've recommended five to ensure they feel secure in their knowledge - 5-a-day helps keeps the learning loss at bay (or so we think!).

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Now...onto the lesson!

Key Stage 2 Statutory Requirements for Maths

Year 6 students should be able to use their knowledge of the order of operations to carry out calculations involving the four operations.

What's it all about?

Think the answer to 6 + 4 x 5 = 50? Think again! There is a particular order in which we answer problems like this one and all your child needs to remember is BIDMAS. This article will help you teach your child the order of operations to correctly answer problems.

We're confident that if you follow this step-by-step approach together, your child will be able to:

1) Understand what BIDMAS is

2) Apply BIDMAS to independent work

3) Explain to you how they completed their work!

Step 1 - Key terminology

Your child will need a basic understanding of the four operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Indices (plural) – the index (singular) of a number shows how many times it is multiplied by itself.

For example, 5² = 5 x 5 = 25

5³ = 5 x 5 x 5 = 125

Step 2 - Check your child's prior understanding

Your child will have learnt how to add, subtract, multiply and divide with increasingly larger numbers. When they get given questions involving the order of operations, the numbers are usually smaller. Fast recall of times tables and other number facts (such as number bonds) will be useful to your child.

Step 3 - BIDMAS

The main thing you need to remember is: BIDMAS (or BODMAS)

Brackets

Indices

Division

Multiplication

Addition

Subtraction

In BODMAS, the O stands for Orders, which is the same as Indices. This is the order in which to complete the four operations questions.

It’s actually shaped like a pyramid:

Addition and subtraction have equal importance – so only those are done from left to right.

Division and multiplication can be done in any order – you will get the same answer either way:

5 x 4 ÷ 2 = 20 ÷ 2 = 10

5 x 4 ÷ 2 = 5 x 2 = 10

Examples:

1) 5 + 2 x 4 = 13

Multiplication comes before addition, so 2 x 4 = 8. Then we do 5 + 8 = 13.

2) 64 – 10 ÷ 2 = 59

Division comes before subtraction, so 10 ÷ 2 = 5. Then, 64 – 5 = 59.

3) 3 + (5² x 2) ÷ 10 = 8

Order: brackets, indices, division, addition.

25 x 2 = 50. Then 50 ÷ 10 = 5. Then 8 + 5 = 8

Step 4 - Putting it into practice...

Now have a go at these examples together:

1) 6 + 4 x 5

2) 4³ + 15 ÷ 3

3) 7 + 48 ÷ (18 – 16)

4) 22 – 4 + 10

Challenge questions:

Fill in the missing number

5) (26 – 10) ÷ _____ = 4

6) 4 x _____ - 25 = 23

Put the brackets in to make the answers correct

7) 8 x 9 – 5 – 6 = 26

Step 5 - Give it a go...

Why not test your child's understanding and see if they can tackle these activities?

All activities are created by teachers and automatically marked. Plus, with an EdPlace subscription, we can automatically progress your child at a level that's right for them. Sending you progress reports along the way so you can track and measure progress, together - brilliant!

Activity 1 - Mental Calculations 2

Activity 2 - Understand and Apply BODMAS Skills

Activity 3 - Using BIDMAS: Order of Operations in Calculations

Activity 4 - Understand and Apply Problem Solving Skills 1

Activity 5 - Understand and Apply Problem Solving Skills 2

Answers:

1) 26

4 x 5 = 20

6 + 20 = 26

2) 69

4³ = 64

15 ÷ 3 = 5