Secondary Mathematics

Unit 1:
Algebraic identities: alternatives
to relying on memory

Teacher Education
through School-based
Support in India
www.TESS-India.edu.in

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

The TESS-India project (Teacher Education through School-based Support) aims to improve
the classroom practices of elementary and secondary teachers in India through studentcentred and activity-based approaches. This has been realised through 105 teacher
development units (TDUs) available online and downloaded in printed form.
Teachers are encouraged to read the whole TDU and try out the activities in their classroom
in order to maximise their learning and enhance their practice. The TDUs are written in a
supportive manner, with a narrative that helps to establish the context and principles that
underpin the activities. The activities are written for the teacher rather than the student,
acting as a companion to textbooks.
TESS-India TDUs were co-written by Indian authors and UK subject leads to address Indian
curriculum and pedagogic targets and contexts. Originally written in English, the TDUs have
then been localised to ensure that they have relevance and resonance in each participating
Indian states context.
TESS-India is led by The Open University and funded by UKAID from the Department for
International Development.

Version 1.0
Except for third party materials and otherwise stated, this content is made available under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bysa/3.0/

Contents
Introduction

Learning outcomes

Learning through memorisation

Imagery for developing understanding of algebraic

identities

Algebraic identities seen as special cases of

multiplication

3
4

Spotting patterns and adjusting algebraic identities

12

Summary

16

Resources

17

Resource 1

17

References

18

Acknowledgements

19

Introduction

Introduction
Algebraic identities play an import role in the mathematics curriculum and in
mathematics in general. In Class IX in the Indian secondary school
curriculum, eight types of identities are used when solving equations and
polynomials. Knowing and recognising these identities helps the learners to
learn mathematical procedures. It will also enable them to develop uency
when applying these procedures in algebraic manipulations and problem
solving. In order to use the power of identities fully, it is important to be
able to spot variations in the algebraic identities. The main issue when
learning and applying identities is that, for most students, the work is purely
a question of memorising and regurgitating them. This unit will explore
different approaches to learning algebraic identities. These approaches rely
less on memorisation and instead build on understanding the concepts of
identities.
In this unit you are invited to rst undertake the activities for yourself and
reect on the experience as a learner; then try them out in your classroom
and reect on that experience as a teacher. Trying for yourself will mean you
get insights into a learners experiences, which can inuence your teaching
and your experiences as a teacher. This will help you to develop a more
learner-focused teaching environment.
The activities in this unit require you to work on mathematical problems
either alone or with your class. First you will read about a mathematical
approach or method; then you will apply it in the activity, solving a given
problem. Afterwards you will be able to read a commentary by another
teacher who did the same activity with a group of students so you can
evaluate its effectiveness and compare with your own experience.

Pause for thought

Thinking about your classroom, how are algebraic identities perceived
by your students? Do they like it? Do they struggle with it? Why do you
think this is?
Thinking back about your experiences as a mathematics learner, how
did you perceive algebraic identities?

TDU 1

Algebraic identities: alternatives to relying on memory

Learning outcomes
This unit addresses learning outcomes in different areas relating to the
teaching and learning of mathematics:
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
.

understand the difference between an identity and an equation

use images to explore and discover how identities are formed

use and apply identities without having to rely on memory

develop methods to reduce reliance on memory

adjust existing tasks to allow students to focus on the process of doing

mathematics.

This unit links to the teaching requirements of the NCF (2005) and NCFTE
(2009) outlined in Resource 1.

1 Learning through memorisation

1 Learning through memorisation

Learning through memorisation, or rote learning, is a learning technique
based on repetition. There are several arguments in favour of this learning
approach: one is that having rapid recall of certain facts in mathematics is
necessary to become uent in other areas or in other mathematics topics. The
argument goes that if, for example, you do not know your times tables by
heart, you will spend too much time and effort working out 6 7 instead of
focusing on the procedure of working out, for example, the volume of
combined solids, especially when there is no access to calculators. It is also
sometimes seen as a cultural way of learning. Knowing times tables by heart
could also give you a better number sense; for example, of the numbers
magnitude, of how numbers are related or of multiples and fractions. Similar
arguments could be used for learning algebraic identities through
memorisation.
However, there are also many counter-arguments to the use of memorisation
as a learning technique. One is about accessibility; not all students benet
from memorisation due to their poor school attendance, their lack of time or
opportunity for the required practice, or just their poor recall. Students with
special educational needs such as dyslexia, for example, are enormously
disadvantaged.
Another argument concerns the kind of learning that memorisation affords.
Memorisation does not focus on comprehension or building understanding;
nor does it support exploration of what concepts could mean, or how they
are connected to other areas of mathematics. It focuses on memorising and
accurate reproduction, which can become problematic when studying more
complex aspects of a subject, for example formulae and algorithms, that
entail complex steps. Understanding of meaning is not created by
memorisation, which means elements get missed out, details get muddled up,
stress increases and exams are failed.
The teaching experience when using memorisation is often not exciting, and
can even be boring, because of its repetitive nature and lack of focus on
understanding and making connections. Students mechanically go through
the exercises, engaging their brains as little as possible. This is problematic
for all students, including high achievers, who tend to be categorised as such
because they are good at rote learning. Boredom when learning mathematics,
little demand for thinking and a lack of opportunity to work on making
connections and giving meaning to mathematics makes it hard for learners to
develop an understanding of and a love for the subject.

Pause for thought

What are your thoughts about learning through memorisation? Do you
think it works well always, sometimes or not often?
How did you experience learning mathematics by memorisation?

TDU 1

Algebraic identities: alternatives to relying on memory

Think of one of your students who seems to be memorising well, and

think of one that is struggling. What is the same and what is different
about how they learn?

2 Imagery for developing understanding of algebraic identities

2 Imagery for developing

understanding of algebraic
identities
This unit works on developing ways for teaching algebraic identities that
allow an understanding of the mathematics to take place, and to rely less on
memory. An effective way to address this is through the use of imagery,
which is discussed more in depth in the TDU 3, Number systems: exploring
by comparing and contrasting, visualising, and imaging.
The operation of multiplication can be modelled in different ways. The one
that will be worked with in this unit is the representation of multiplication as
a product table that is similar to area.
For example, the product 7 3 can be represented by an area of 7 by 3.
From this image it is also clear that multiplication is commutative, that is,
the product of 7 3 is the same area as the product of 3 7.

Hence 7 3 ~ 21.
The area model helps us understand how we can decompose a multiplication
problem, because the area of a large rectangle can be easily decomposed into
areas of smaller rectangles. It is good practice not to draw the area models in
proportion to the numbers used: it stimulates more abstract representations
and makes the jump to representing negative numbers smaller.

From the above gure we see how

73~42+32+41+31
This decomposition model is very helpful when we are nding products of
larger numbers.

TDU 1

Algebraic identities: alternatives to relying on memory

For example, 24 13 can be represented by:

Hence 24 13 ~ 200 + 40 + 60 + 12 ~ 312.

192 can be represented as:

Hence 192 ~ 400 20 20 + 1 ~ 361.

You might have noticed that in these examples the equivalence sign has
sometimes been used instead of the equation sign, which would be equally
valid. The equivalence sign can offer a certain freedom, a playfulness to
mathematics, in particular if the sign is read as is another way of saying
instead of is equivalent to.
The next task will support students in working with the imagery of seeing
multiplication as a product table.

Activity 1: Representing multiplication as an area

For each multiplication problem given below:
(a) model the problem as a product table
(b) if appropriate, decompose the area into smaller areas
(c) show how can you work out the products of these calculations by
using your answers to (a) and (b)
1 (105)2
2 (14.3)

3 4(99)
4 982
5 7(t + r)
6 (r + q) (s r)

2 Imagery for developing understanding of algebraic identities

Case Study 1: Teacher Habib reects on using

Activity 1
Before starting on this activity we had a discussion on how a number
squared or multiplied could be represented by an area model, mimicking
the way I learnt it from reading this unit. I started with small numbers
like 5 6 and then to bigger numbers like 56 64 and 65 115. Anup
thought of using the distributive property for the question 65 115 = 65
(100 + 10 + 5), and so he went ahead and represented it as a one-bytwo table.
We also discussed whether it would help to do the same with the other
number and form a sort of product table. Only when we had done that
did I ask them to go ahead and try the tasks given. They worked on this
mainly on their own, although every now and then I could see students
looking at their neighbours work. They could do most of them well. With
the decimal question, most of them distributed it as 14 + 0.3. I asked
them if they felt it was now simpler and some of them said that it was
not, so I told them that they could think of a further decomposition to
make a three-by-three table.
When they came to 982 the ones who decided on 90 + 8 had no
problems, but one of them decided to represent it as 100 2 so then he
wanted to know how an area could be negative. This led to a lively
discussion about representation and modelling in mathematics and why
it can be helpful to come up with different labels. In this case, the
difference and sameness between a product table and an area
representation. We conjectured that the product table and the area
representation would be identical when working with positive numbers
but with negative numbers you would have problems with the area
model because a negative area does not actually exist. However, we
know a product can be negative, so that is why we would call it a
product table!
I did not go deeper into the 100 2 representation itself, but it led nicely
into discussing the next part of this unit: how to deal with negative
numbers in a product table.

Pause for thought

When you do such an exercise with your class, reect afterwards on
what went well and what went less well. Consider the questions that led
to the students being interested and make connections between topics.
Such reection always helps with nding ways to help you to engage
the students and help them to nd mathematics interesting and
enjoyable. If they do not understand and cannot do something, they are
less likely to become involved. Use this reective exercise every time
you undertake the activities, noting as Teacher Habib did some quite
small things that made a difference.
Good questions to trigger this reection are:

TDU 1

Algebraic identities: alternatives to relying on memory

How did it go with your class?

What questions did you use to probe your students understanding?

Did you feel you had to intervene at any point?

What points did you feel you had to reinforce?

Did you modify the task in any way? If so, what was your reasoning
for doing so?

3 Algebraic identities seen as special cases of multiplication

3 Algebraic identities seen as

special cases of multiplication
Students often perceive algebraic identities as some magic or a gospel truth.
They rarely develop a sense of where these identities appear from or that
they are special cases of multiplication.
One of the reasons why students tend to memorise identities is that they fail
to associate any meaning to the relationship being depicted by the identity.
You may have noticed students making common errors when they recall
identities:
(x y)2 = x2 y2
(x y)2 = x2 + 2xy + y2
(x y)2 = x2 + 2xy y2

Even though it is fairly simple to check if the two statements are correct (all
that is needed is to verify them for a few values of the variables), students
continue to make these mistakes. One reason may be that they are not aware
of how easily they can verify their statements. The second, and more serious
reason, is that they have never created a physical (or geometric) meaning of
these statements.
The next task helps students discover for themselves the meaning of
different identities. The task focuses on nding, seeing and generalising the
patterns of algebraic identities.
Before beginning this activity, it would be a good idea to rst check if
students can illustrate the lengths x + y and x y correctly. The former is
easier to conceive and the latter may take a bit more effort.
x+y
If the green portion is x, and the blue portion is y, then the red portion is x
+ y. This could also be described as 'the length of the green portion
(representing x) added to the length of the blue portion (representing y) is
the same as the red portion (representing x + y)'.

xy
If the green portion is x, and the blue portion is y, then the red portion is x
y. This could also be described as 'the length of the green portion
(representing x) take away the length of the blue portion (representing y)
leaves the red portion (representing x y)'

TDU 1

Algebraic identities: alternatives to relying on memory

Activity 2: Algebraic identities as special cases of

algebraic multiplications
1 Describe, not draw or work out, the following mathematical
expressions as a product table to your neighbour what would it
look like?
(a) (x + y)2
(b) (x + a)(x + b)
(c) (x y)2
(d) (x y)(x + y)
2 Now draw the representation of each expression as you have
described it in step 1 as a product table.
3 Now try to write an alternative mathematical expression that
represents the areas that you have drawn in step 2.
4 Observe and compare your answers to steps 1, 2 and 3 for each
of the four expressions:
(a) How many terms do you get for the expressions (a), (b), (c) and
(d) in step 3?
(b) How are these terms formed?
(c) What is the same about these expressions? What is different? It
might help if you colour in the area boxes corresponding to the
terms.
(d) Describe a rule or method for working out the algebraic identities in
this way so other students in other classes could read about it.

Case Study 2: Teacher Rashid reects on using

Activity 2
Having represented pure numbers in the product table, as well as area
representation rectangles, the students could do parts (a) and (b) pretty
easily. They represented their ideas as both product tables and areas of
rectangles (as Mona said that it was represented in the same way for all
positives). For the negative numbers, the product table was very easily
constructed, however when representing areas of rectangles there was
a bit of confusion. I asked Mona to come to the board and follow the
instructions of others. I reminded them that they had done something
that would be useful when using numbers in the earlier task.
They found the third question easy and we discussed the signicance of
equivalence: that an expression with collected terms can be equivalent
to one where the terms have not been collected yet it just looks a bit

10

3 Algebraic identities seen as special cases of multiplication

messier somehow! I asked them whether they could come up with some
ideas to make it look even more messy and they had great ideas! It
made us all laugh, which was really nice.
The fourth question was no problem at all, except the last part. The
difculty was not in describing it, but in doing so succinctly. The
descriptions were not perfect, but we were all happy with them and
realised that to improve we would simply need practice at writing our
own descriptions and methods more.
We extended the questions to include (a + b + c)2 and then tried with
terms being assigned different signs and they could get the solutions
easily .
We also decided that to do (a + b)3 or (a b)3 we could do it in two
parts (a + b)(a + b)2 = (a + b)(a2 + 2ab + b2) and then put this in the
product table of 2 3.
The students felt really happy and condent with working in this way.
One student said that he felt so relieved that he would now be able to
think of a way to work out the algebraic identities if his memory failed.

Pause for thought

How did it go with your class? What questions did you use to probe
your students understanding? Did you feel you had to intervene at any
point? What points did you feel you had to reinforce? Did you modify the
task in any way? If so, what was your reasoning for doing so?

11

TDU 1

Algebraic identities: alternatives to relying on memory

4 Spotting patterns and adjusting

algebraic identities
In the previous task, students worked on developing an image of
multiplication and algebraic identities, and so developed an understanding of
what these are about. Through this, students will now be aware of methods
other than memorising formulae and algorithms to work out the products of
multiplication and algebraic identities.
The power of understanding algebraic identities in mathematics is not only
being able to work out their products, but also, and perhaps more
importantly, to spot them when they are not in an easily recognisable form
and be able to tweak expressions so they can be written as variations of
algebraic identities, which means actually creating identities of their own.
The next two tasks focus on this. Activity 3 requires students to actively
develop ways to spot patterns and manipulate expressions in the context of
algebraic identities.
Activity 4 uses Vedic mathematics to learn to create an algebraic identity
that reects this method of nding squares of numbers ending in 5. Once
that is done, they compare how this identity compares with two other
identities they already know.

Activity 3: spotting patterns

This is an activity on spotting patterns and manipulating mathematical
expressions in the context of algebraic identities.
For each of the calculations, decide whether it is a particular case of
one of the generalisations that you know as algebraic identities. You can
nd these in your textbook or as a reminder, they are:
(a) (x + y)2 = x2 + 2xy + y2
(b) (x y)2 = x2 2xy + y2
(c) x2 y2 = (x + y)(x y)
(d) (x + a)(x + b) = x2 + (a + b)x + ab
(e) (x + y + z)2 = x2 + y2 + z2 + 2xy + 2yz + 2zx
(f) (x + y)3 = x3 + y3 + 3xy (x + y)
(g) (x y)3 = x3 y3 3xy (x + y) = x3 3x2y + 3xy2 y3
(h) x3 + y3 + z3 3xyz = (x + y + z) (x2 + y2 + z2 xy - yz zx)
1 5.62 0.32 = 31.27
2 (x 3)(x + 5) = x2 + 2x 15
3 118 123 = 14 514
4 25/4x2 y2/9 = (5/2x + y/3)(5/2x y/3)

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4 Spotting patterns and adjusting algebraic identities

Case Study 3: Teacher Anju reects on using

Activity 3
Since the list was there to see, the students happily started comparing
the given questions with the identities. For the rst one, they did identify
the correct identity but Suman and a few others wrote it as 5.62 0.32 =
(5.62 0.32)(5.62 + 0.32), so I asked her to come to the board and write
it down. At once Ravi said how can it be that on the right-hand side
(RHS) we have the same expression but then it is multiplied by
another? Suman immediately saw what she had done and rubbed out
the indices on the RHS leaving the correct answer.
The second one was done easily enough but for the third some
distributed it as 100 + 18 and 100 + 23. This led to a discussion on
whether that was simplied enough or was there another way of making
it simpler?
Some of the students wanted to write the last one as (5/4x y/9)(5/4x +
y/9). There was a lot of discussion on what was right and what was
wrong with this suggestion. Then I asked them to take out their
textbook, not to do the exercise but to now see if they could easily
identify the identities that they needed to use.

Pause for thought

How did it go with your class? What questions did you use to probe
your students understanding? Did you feel you had to intervene at any
point? What points did you feel you had to reinforce? Did you modify the
task in any way? If so, what was your reasoning for doing so?

Activity 4: Creating and comparing identities

Vedic mathematics
Vedic mathematics has a rule that allows you to nd the square of
numbers ending with 5 without actual multiplication of the number.
According to this rule,
9952 = 99 (99+1) 100 + 25 = 990 025
Whilst this is often offered as a trick to remember and use, with a little
thought you can understand why it works and therefore use it whenever
it may help with calculations.
In the last task, we had computed (105)2 by modelling it as an area. In
the process we saw that:
(105)2 = 100 100 + 2 (100)(5) + 5 5.
Now to explore the Vedic maths method.
1 Think of a number x, such that:

13

TDU 1

Algebraic identities: alternatives to relying on memory

(105)2 = (x)(x + 1)100 + 25.

2 Now rewrite the left-hand side (LHS) of the equation in step 1
using the variable x. Write out the whole equation in step 1 using
your new LHS. Look at it carefully.
3 Do you think that the equation that you have obtained in step 2 is
an identity? How are you sure about your answer?
4 Compare and contrast the identity obtained in step 3 with the two
identities:
(a) (x + y)2 = x2 + 2xy + y2
(b) (x y)2 = x2 2xy + y2
What is the same and what is different?

Case Study 4: Teacher Anju reects on using

Activity 4
The students were hesitant and did not know what to do here. Harinder,
however, was doing some calculations feverishly. I gave him some time
and then went over to see what he had done. What he had done was
found the product of the RHS, i.e.:
(x2 + x)100 + 25 = 100x2 + 100x + 25
And he used the area model on the LHS:

He then compared 100 100 with 100x2 and decided that x2 = 100 so x
= 10.
He also applied that value in the given equation to see if it worked and
it did.
I asked him to share what he had done with the others. I told them to
take some numbers of their own and nd out if it worked for all sorts of
squares. They came to the conclusion that the product rule worked only
for numbers ending in 5.
On the second part they were again stuck, so I pointed out how they
had found that 100 + 5 = 10x + 5 where x = 10 and I asked them to nd
the square by the area model. We discussed what they understand by
an identity and checked out whether this one was an identity. For the
last part, they could identify the one it was associated with.

14

4 Spotting patterns and adjusting algebraic identities

Pause for thought

How did it go with your class? What questions did you use to probe
your students understanding? Did you feel you had to intervene at any
point? What points did you feel you had to reinforce? Did you modify the
task in any way? If so, what was your reasoning for doing so?

15

TDU 1

Algebraic identities: alternatives to relying on memory

5 Summary
This unit has focused on using visual representations to facilitate working
with complex expressions. Once the learners grasp the connections between
area calculations and expanding brackets they immediately have a way of
working out identities rather than relying on their memories. These ideas
allow learners to give a meaning to what they are doing and therefore to feel
that the ideas are their own. It also suggests that the students play with these
ideas, asking What if I do it this way instead of that way?, or make it more
messy rather than less. In this way some of the anxieties that can be built up
when demanding memorisation can be dissipated and memorisation can
happen more easily. This is important: when students can reproduce
identities from memory, they can more uently solve mathematical problems
but often they are so worried about memorising that they cannot develop
the uency.
Identify three techniques or strategies you have learned in this unit that you
might use in your classroom and two ideas that you want to explore further.

16

6 Resources

6 Resources
Resource 1
This unit links to the folllowing teaching requirements of the NCF (2005)
and NCFTE (2009) and will help you to meet those requirements:
.

Let students see mathematics as more than formulae and mechanical

procedures.

Learn through activities, discovery and exploration in a child-friendly and

child-centred manner.

View learners as active participants in their own learning and not as mere
recipients of knowledge; encouraging their capacity to construct
knowledge; shifting learning away from rote methods.

Organise learner-centred, activity-based, participatory learning

experiences.

Engage with the curriculum, syllabuses and textbooks to critically

examine them rather than taking them as given and accepted without
question.

Let students use abstractions to perceive relationships, to see structures,

to reason out problems, to argue the truth or falsity of statements.

17

TDU 1

Algebraic identities: alternatives to relying on memory

References
National Council of Educational Research and Training (2005) National
Curriculum Framework (NCF). New Delhi: NCERT.
National Council for Teacher Education (2009) National Curriculum Framework
for Teacher Education [Online], New Delhi, NCTE. Available at http://www.
ncte-india.org/publicnotice/NCFTE_2010.pdf (Accessed 16 January 2014).
National Council of Educational Research and Training (2012a) Mathematics
Textbook for Class IX. New Delhi: NCERT.
National Council of Educational Research and Training (2012b) Mathematics
Textbook for Class X. New Delhi: NCERT.

18

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements
The content of this teacher development unit was developed collaboratively
and incrementally by the following educators and academics from India and
The Open University (UK) who discussed various drafts, including the
feedback from Indian and UK critical readers: Els De Geest, Anjali Gupte,
Clare Lee and Atul Nischal.
Except for third party materials and otherwise stated, this content is made
available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

The material acknowledged below is Proprietary and used under licence (not
subject to Creative Commons Licence). Grateful acknowledgement is made
to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this unit:
Every effort has been made to contact copyright owners. If any have been
inadvertently overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to make the
necessary arrangements at the rst opportunity.

19