• Open the spreadsheet to be seen by the entire class, or have individual students open it at their own computers.
• Begin by having the student enter an expression into the yellow cell next to "Original Expression" (be sure to begin it with the = sign).
• Next copy and paste that expression into a yellow cell below.
• Now modify the expression in the formular bar by adding or removing parentheses. See how many different results you can get from the original expression.
• Use this to explore order of operations and the effect of parentheses.

Standards (Ohio Academic Content Standards):

• Math - Grade 5 - Number, Number Sense, and Operations
  #9 - Use order of operations, including use of parentheses, to simplify numerical expressions.
• Math - Grade 6 - Number, Number Sense, and Operations
  #6 - Use the order of operations, including the use of exponents, decimals and rational numbers, to simplify numerical expressions.
• Math - Grade 7 - Number, Number Sense, and Operations
  #4 - Use order of operations and properties to simplify numerical expressions involving integers, fractions and decimals.