"Add 8 and 7, then multiply by 2" is 2 × (8 + 7), and the bracket is the whole answer. These free printable worksheets ask a child to write the calculation down rather than do it, which is the grade-5 step that makes order of operations mean something the following year.
Every wrong option on these pages is made from the same numbers as the right one, with the bracket moved or dropped. That is deliberate: a distractor built from a number the question never mentioned can be crossed off without reading the words, and reading the words is the entire exercise. 2 × 8 + 7 and 2 × (8 + 7) differ by two symbols and by nine.
Why this sheet works
The second kind of question asks which expression is three times as large as 486 + 215, and the numbers there are deliberately big. The standard says to recognize the relationship without calculating, and the only way a printed page can ask for that is to make calculating obviously not worth it. A child who adds the two numbers first has answered a different, longer question and still has to choose.
How this one works
One question from a sheet like this one, worked a step at a time — with a sentence saying what just happened and why.
Write the expression · Numbers, no lettersAnswer key
1. multiply 12 by 7, then subtract 3 → 12 × 7 − 32. 2 times as large as 215 + 486 → 2 × (215 + 486)3. multiply 12 by 15, then subtract 4 → 12 × 15 − 44. 4 times as large as 215 + 159 → 4 × (215 + 159)5. 3 times as large as 215 + 348 → 3 × (215 + 348)6. add 8 and 9, then multiply by 3 → 3 × (8 + 9)7. add 15 and 6, then multiply by 2 → 2 × (15 + 6)8. multiply 8 by 15, then subtract 2 → 8 × 15 − 2
