Order of Operations Solve & Draw Task Cards

These Solve & Draw Task Cards are an easy way to give your students engaging practice with the order of operations. This set of 40 differentiated Task Cards includes five leveled sets of 8 task cards. Each level includes all steps of the order of operations using positive integers. Each level has a different level of scaffolding provided.

Set 1 (Star): Level 1
Includes detailed PEMDAS graphic and example problem

Set 2 (Cat): Level 2
Includes PEMDAS graphic and example problem

Set 3 (Pandas): Level 3
Includes PEMDAS graphic

Set 4 (Alien): Level 4
No scaffolding provided

Set 5 (Rhombus): Level 5
Challenge level – asks students to place parenthesis in an equation

How Solve & Draw Task Cards Work:

Students solve the order of operations problems and add to the drawing based on their answer. Each leveled set includes a drawing page and 8 task cards. You also receive a full color version of the drawing page – perfect for projecting onto an interactive whiteboard and having students take turns drawing on as you correct the work! Task cards are included in both color and black-and-white. An answer sheet with workspace is provided and may be copied on to the back of the drawing or printed separately.

HINT: For a quick, no prep version of this activity (think emergency sub plan!) you may use the scaffolded version of the student answer sheet instead of the task cards. For example, for the first set you would only need to print page 4 (student coloring page) and page 5 (scaffolded answer sheet) and students will be able to complete the activity!

Included skills:

Order of operations: parenthesis, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction with positive integers
Thinking critically
Identifying steps taken
Reading carefully and interpreting directions