Instructor: All right, so what we’ve been doing is solving equations to find a solution for our variable. You guys have been feeling pretty good with that, so now we are going to reverse it a little bit. Instead of you starting with an equation to solve, I’m going to give you the solution and you’re going to have to create the equation. So try to make it as creative as possible. Try to use all the different kinds of numbers that you know. Try and draw on some of the properties that you usually use in order to solve it. 

The solution that you’re going to be creating an equation for is x=-7. Go ahead and work at your tables, talk with your partners, try to create the most creative problem.

All right. Now that we’ve had a couple of minutes to try these out, to talk to each other about them, can I get a volunteer to share what their equation is? Yes

Student 1: -400=x^3+5x-22.

Instructor: All right. That one’s pretty creative. What’s another one? Yes.

Student 2: 12x=13

Narrator: You might also encourage students to go beyond symbolic equations and create word problems with the solution x=-7. Ask students to create a word problem that would lead to that equation. Encourage them to be as creative as possible.