In just about every match class you'll take, you'll be working with some type of word problems at some point or another and it's important to be able to take that word problem and come up with a way to solve it, meaning answering the question, figuring out that piece of missing information. In this lesson, we're going to work on understanding algebraic word problems. So we're going to look at specific strategies to use to take the word problem and write it as an algebraic expression or equation. First, let's look at some of those strategies. So, algebraic word problems are word problems that can be solved with an equation. These equations have variables, numbers, mathematical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. And remember, equations also have an equal sign. When we're reading these word problems, we want to look for information that will help you set up and solve that equation. So we'll be looking for information to help us set up the variables, the numbers and the mathematical operations. Those are the three important things that we're going to look for. But first, before you do any of that, make sure that you understand the word problem. It normally takes reading it at least two or three times to make sure that you fully understand what's going on in the word problem. Because remember, word problems represent some type of real world scenario. So make sure that you understand what's going on in that scenario. It might be helpful to draw a picture or diagram to represent the situation. It can also be helpful to underline the important information or use a highlighter so that the important things can stand out at you. Once you make sure that you understand the word problem, then we can move on to looking for these key pieces of information to help us set up the equation. So first, to find the variable, you're going to ask yourself what is the problem telling me to find? Remember, variables represent something unknown. This is the unknown value. So we're going to represent it with some type of letter and you can use whatever letter you want for the variable. It usually helps if you use a letter that will help you remember what the variable represents. For example, if they're asking you to figure out how much money is left, maybe you want to use M to represent money. Or if they want you to find how many books there are, you can use B to represent books. So just keep that in mind. You don't have to always use the variable x. You can pick any letter as long as it helps you to remember what the variable is. Next, we're going to locate numbers in the word problem and figure out what they represent. So once you come across a number, ask yourself what type of item is it? What does that number represent? Does it represent money? Does it represent a number of books or students or cookies? Or it can represent an infinite number of things. But there should be some information in the word problem to tell you what that number represents. And ask yourself what type of quantity is it? Does it represent the total amount of something or just a partial amount? For example, if the number represents money, is it the total amount of money or is it just the money for the cookies? Or is it the money that we have left over after we've purchased things at the store? In which case it would represent just part of the amount of money. So once you can understand that, whether it represents the total of something or just a part of something, that will normally give you a clue on how that number will piece together in the actual equation. And next we're going to look for mathematical operations. So we're going to look for keywords like difference left, remaining, total in all, et cetera. There's an infinite number of keywords that can help us figure out what mathematical operations we're going to use. And then once you come across those keywords, ask yourself what do they represent in this situation? Am I going to use them to set up addition, subtraction, multiplication or division? Some words can represent different operations in different situations though and that's why it's so important to make sure that you actually understand the whole situation rather than just looking for very specific words. So that's why our first step when we're reading word problems is to make sure that you understand the word problem and the entire situation because that will help you to picture what's going on and see how the different numbers and variables will come together with these operations. So keep these tips in mind you can set up a little checklist for yourself to use when you're reading word problems and once you get more practice with it, it will become a piece of cake to be able to set up these equations for the word problems.