Sage doesn't look back at the clock. She already knows what she needs to know now, and knowing it doesn't make anything ahead lighter — just aimed differently. The next room proves it immediately. It isn't a new room at all. It's every room she's already crossed, stacked on top of each other and flickering like a signal that can't hold one channel. The balance scale from the very first equation tips against a wall that has no business holding it. The fraction bridge's blocks

The hallway behind the sphinx's archway doesn't stay a hallway for long. It opens all at once into a room so big the ceiling disappears into shadow, and the floor — every inch of it — is a coordinate grid, axis lines etched deep into the stone and glowing faint gold, crossing at a point dead center of the room. Something about this room feels close to the middle of everything. Close to wherever this world's edges actually are. Maybe close to a way out. No voice explains the r

The passage narrows into a single stone archway, and something is already sitting in it. Not a scale, not a chasm — a sphinx, carved out of the same pale rock as the hallway, with eyes that track Sage as he approaches. It doesn't ask for numbers. It only speaks in riddles. "Answer wrong," it says, "and you'll hear this riddle again. Answer right, and I'll step aside." A few of the kids drift up behind Sage, close enough now to listen in without being asked to. The sphinx spea

(by Mark O. with help from Sage the intrepid student dog) A gap in the path stretches too wide to cross. The only way over are two creatures standing at its edge. Each are built out of a stack of mismatched blocks. One is short and squat, the other tall and thin. Neither can lie down flat across the gap alone without leaving a dangerous, uneven step in the middle. The only way to make a solid bridge is to get the two creatures to exactly the same size first. Problem: Scaling

(by Mark O. with help from Sage the intrepid student dog) A shapeshifting creature blocks the doorway, half-melted and lopsided, above which two equations float. The shadowy figure had been here first, trying to use one equation to solve the other, but didn't quite do it right. This left the creature mismatched and strange. A small cluster of kids drifts closer to watch as Sage tries to help the creature. As a reminder, substitution is a method for solving a system of equatio

Sage and the kids finished that last room where they solved equations with variables on both sides, and now find themselves in a large room with a locked door at the end. Two metal balls sit in the back corners of the room to Sage's right and left, but not exactly in the corners. A sign next to the entrance has an inscription: "To open the next door, you must tell me where the beams of light meet ... without turning on the lasers." It continues: "The first laser is aimed to

Sage and the kids now have a better understanding on how to approach Multi-step equations in that last room. The next room feels very cold. Something is wrong. Chills run down everyone's spines. Another scale sits in front of the team. Sage cautiously steps forward in a crouch, not sure what to expect. As Sage approaches, two ghosts appear, pulling on the scale from either side as it teeters back and forth. The tile on the left side reads "4x - 22" and the tile on the r

That last room sure put new perspective. Two-step equations no longer feel quite so intimidating to the pack. Sage and the kids stroll into the next room with a little more confidence. The kids are even joking around and high-fiving one another. Their previous apprehension towards each other appears to be dissolving. This next room has another scale, but it covered in twisting vines. There are 3 specific vines on the scale and there are words inscribed on each one: Dist

Solving One-Step Equations turned out to be pretty fun. Sage wonders what's in store for the team next. The next room holds a scale like the one before, except the x-side now carries a coefficient: 3x + 5. On the other side is a 11. One of the kids clears the +5 from both pans without a hitch and calls it solved. However, suddenly everyone starts seeing triple! Sage thinks he might know why... Solving two step equations might seem difficult but it's basically just solving a

Sage did NOT like being separated from the kids in that last room, but they learned how the Distributive Property works. This new skill ought to be pretty handy moving forward. When they enter the next room, they realize they are standing on a literal balance scale with an x-weight on one side. One of the kids adds a 3-weight to only one pan — a miscalculated equation — which makes gravity violently tilt, tossing Sage briefly into the air. The nearby kids scatter for cover at

After that last room, Sage and the kids have a basic understanding of Algebra. Now it's time to refine and master these algebraic concepts. A mist swallows them as they enter the new room. When it clears, Sage and the kids are separated, the kids in one tunnel, Sage in another. Each tunnel ends with a door. The kids' door reads a(b+c); Sage's reads ab+c. The equations must control where the doors lead, but the kids' door is sealed behind glass. Only Sage's equation is open, a

Sage and the kids feel pretty good about the basics they've reviewed and mastered since beginning their adventure. Now something feels a little different. Stumbling through corridors filled with numbers and symbols, Sage happens upon a glowing niche. Inside, a book. Sage reaches for the book and opens it. The title says it is “the book of the balancing of the equations”. Sage opens it and reads the first page. “Do you want to help me play a game?” says a picture of a stern m

(by Mark O. with help from Sage the intrepid student dog) After some persistent work, Sage and the kids figured out the right Order of Operations to get through the PEMDAS chamber. As Sage enters the door, he finds himself in a narrow hallway. The walls, floor, and ceiling are all covered with equations. However, these equations seem different than the ones he's been seeing. They seem somehow more solid. And they're multiplying. There are so many letters and numbers that the

Sage feels pretty good about completing his last few challenges involving Rational Operations. Sage peers into the new room to sees a chamber hooked up to a mess of cables. The cables all seem to connect to a door on the far end of the room. chambers. The kids keep their distance as sage approaches. As he gets closer, he notices there are chambers within the chambers, one has a parentheses, one has an exponent, one has a multiplication and division sign, and the innermost has

(by Chris B. with help from Sage the intrepid student dog) Now that you and Sage reviewed Common Denominators in Post 2b: Are You Ready? Rational Number Operations: Common Denominators, it is time to review adding and subtracting fractions. Let's see how Sage solves the Addition and Subtraction challenge to clear the chasm. Adding and Subtracting Fractions with the same Denominator Adding and subtracting fractions is easy, so long as the two fractions have the same denominat

(by Chris B. with help from Sage the intrepid student dog) Now that you and Sage reviewed multiplying and dividing fractions in Post 2a: Are You Ready? Rational Number Operations: Multiplying and Dividing Fractions, it is time to review adding and subtracting fractions. Before we jump into Addition and Subtraction, let's first refresh on making Common Denominators Making a Common Denominators Remember from your coursework that the value "1" can be written as a number over it

(by Chris B. with help from Sage the intrepid student dog) A massive chasm yawns before Sage and the kids as they enter the room. Looking to his left and right, Sage notices several blocky items strewn on that look like sections of a bridge. However, they are all different sizes. As Sage approaches one, he notices that they have some fractions floating in the air around the blocks. Sage realizes he can interact with the floating math just like in the last room. He wonders if

As Sage starts to feel better adding and subtracting numbers, he notices a group of kids clustered around the far edge of the line. Sage notices that they all seem to be avoiding talking about math. They don't even notice him. Sage turns back to the equations. Sage is feeling better about this room and is starting to be able to solve some of the equations, but then he notices some equations with multiplication and division signs... --------------------------------------------

(by Matthew M. with help from Sage the intrepid student dog) Sage enters the door and sees a vast hall, much bigger than it looked from outside. As he tries to walk past the number line etched into the floor, he is stopped by an invisible force. Sage looks up an sees equations floating in the air involving integers. He wonders if this has something to do with crossing the room. ------------------------------------------------------------------ "Integer operations" just means

Are you taking algebra in the fall? Help Sage catch his mistakes while you brush up on what you need to know. Sage is stuck in an alternate dimension where math can create bridges, flip rooms upside down, and control strange creatures. Sage needs algebra to make it home and find out what happened to his friend Theo. Usually, he gets the big idea right, only to make a small mistake. Click on one of the blue buttons below to help him! This blog works best on desktop. Tap "Copy