Order of Operations

In this activity, students use spreadsheets to explore the order of operations (BEDMAS). Spreadsheets automatically follow the principles of BEDMAS and students are asked to manipulate the problems by considering the different solutions arrived at when comparing left to right computation with the order of operations.

This task can be given first without instruction allowing students to inquire and discover interesting observations for themselves. At this stage, it is useful to have a discussion to share observations and relate this to the order of operations. Teachers should share the BEDMAS activity sheet and ask students to make a copy.