Solving One-Step Equations

Inside the case file

A set of five CSI Mini Mystery Detective math cases on solving one step equations with one variable, 6th grade and 7th grade, themed for Christmas. Students solve across addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, so the pack works as one step equations Christmas math worksheets, as equation practice and as no prep math activities. Christmas math for November and December, then the same cases carry unit review, test prep, math centers, early finishers, homework, morning work and sub plans into January. CSI math and detective activities with full answer keys, print and go. Each answer clears one suspect from the lineup until a single name is left.

December is the month a lesson has to hold a class on its own, and these one step equations cases do. Every solution a student finds rules a suspect out, so they keep solving because they want the name, not because you asked them to. Hand out one case in the last week of term and the answer keys do the rest for you.

The Cases

1. Christmas Decorations - the whole school display disappears
2. Christmas Presents - Santa cannot deliver a thing
3. Missing Ribbons - not a ribbon left in the house
4. Santa’s Sleigh - no sleigh, and it is Christmas Eve
5. Nutcrackers Magical Key - the magical key has gone

What's Inside

• Five case files, each with a crime sheet of equations and its own lineup of suspects
• One step equations with a single variable, across adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing
• Whole number answers, so no fractions or decimals get in the way of the solving
• Each answer matches one suspect and no other, so the page checks itself
• A full answer key for every case
• Print and go: no cutting, no laminating, nothing to prepare

What Is a CSI Mini Mystery Detective?

A CSI Mini Mystery Detective is a printable case your class cracks with math, one page at a time. The suspects each carry a number, the questions produce those numbers, and every correct answer takes a suspect out of the running until one is left holding it. There is no kit, no app and nothing to assemble, so what makes it work is the arithmetic itself, which is what separates detective activities from a plain page of math worksheets. Each case runs for about a class period and fits a lesson, a math center or a sub plan equally well.

When to Use This Resource

December, and the last week before the break in particular, when the class has stopped listening and you still have equations on the plan. It gives you a page that holds them without giving up the math, and it carries the one step equations unit again in January when everyone has forgotten how to solve for a variable. A wrong solution crosses off the wrong suspect, so students check themselves instead of asking you.

It covers test prep, homework, math centers, morning work, early finishers, sub plans and homeschool lessons, and works with a whole class, a small group or one student alone.

Grade Levels

Written for 6th grade and 7th grade, where one step equations sit in the standards. Fifth graders take it as an introduction when they have met inverse operations, and 8th graders use it as a warm-up before two step and multi-step equations.

Why Teachers Love These Cases

• One step only, so the focus stays on undoing the operation
• Students catch their own errors, because the wrong answer crosses off the wrong suspect
• Zero prep in the busiest two weeks of the school year
• Works with a whole class, a small group, partners, or one student alone

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