In this topic, students discover that they can break apart multiplication into smaller parts and add them together. For example, 5 groups of 3 plus 2 groups of 3 equals 7 groups of 3. This connects to the distributive property: 3 × 5 + 3 × 2 = 3 × (5 + 2) = 3 × 7. This strategy helps students solve larger multiplication problems by breaking them into easier parts.
In this topic, students discover that they can break apart multiplication into smaller parts and add them together. For example, 5 groups of 3 plus 2 groups of 3 equals 7 groups of 3. This connects to the distributive property: 3 × 5 + 3 × 2 = 3 × (5 + 2) = 3 × 7. This strategy helps students solve larger multiplication problems by breaking them into easier parts.