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Rational Expressions Question Stack Activity

I created this rational expressions question stack activity for my Algebra 2 students.

rational expressions question stack activity with math notation in background

Question stacks are my favorite self-checking practice activity to create for my students.

This question stack covers both simplifying rational expressions and adding and subtracting rational expressions.

I have my students work through these in groups with mini dry erase boards.

Rational Expressions Question Stack Activity for Algebra 2

This was very hastily put together because 1) I am a procrastinator and 2) I have first hour planning period.  That is NOT a good combination.  So, if it bothers you that I copied and pasted some questions and typed others, I apologize.  If your kids are super astute and will notice the font differences, you should probably fix this.  My kids were so stressed out about rational expressions that they didn’t seem to notice.  

I put a Q on the question side of the cards to avoid confusion.  I still had one group waste a lot of time trying to solve a problem.  They couldn’t figure it out.  I couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t simplify.  Finally, I realized that they were looking at the answer side of the card that was already simplified.  The rest of the class gave them a whole lot of grief over that!  

Here are the questions I used:

Rational Expressions Question Stack Activity for Algebra 2

And, here are the answers.  The cards do not print with the question and answer on the same card when printed double sided.  This is by design.  The cards should form a sort of loop.  

Rational Expressions Question Stack Activity for Algebra 2

How does a Question Stack work?

  • Lay out all of the cards with the answers facing up.
  • Flip over one card to reveal a question.
  • Work that question out.  
  • Find the answer on another card. 
  • Flip that card over and lay it on top of the first question card to start a stack of questions and answers.
  • Work the new problem that was just revealed.
  • Repeat until you run out of cards. 

Make Your Own Question Stacks

Want to make your own question stack activity? I have created an easy to use printable question stack template that works perfectly every time. All you have to do is add your own questions!

make your own question stack template.

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6 Comments

  1. Wedding planning is no joke–it always takes up so much emotional and organizational effort even if you want something simple!

    1. Yes! We're doing everything super simple. Our problem is we still don't have an exact date because of visa stuff. So, we can plan, but we can only plan so much right now.

  2. Love this! And I'm glad to hear I wasn't the only one that tackled all 3 things at once (got married last April and finished my master's last May). You'll do great and everything will be awesome!

  3. Hey Sarah! I love using your activities in my class. I used this today and I think there is an error. My students suggested that the answer printed as (x-1)/(x+2) should be (x+1)/(x+2)

    Could you look at this?

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