Expanding brackets – Year 8 maths lesson

Lesson 24 of 35 in the Year 8 maths course

UK version. UK school years, UK spelling and pounds (£). · US Math Department

A complete 45-minute lesson for Year 8 (ages 12–13) that runs on this page – at school or at home. Every answer is marked straight away, with a worked explanation.

Time: 45 minutes + 20 min homework
Year: Year 8 (ages 12–13)
You need: Paper, a pencil and this page
Marked: Instantly, with explanations

For parents: how to use this lesson

You don't need to know this topic yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, one tidy step at a time. Every answer is marked straight away with a worked explanation, so you never have to mark anything.

Read what your child will learn and the big ideas together.
Press Start the lesson below and sit with your child for the teaching and the worked examples (about 19 minutes).
Let them do the practice on their own. They choose Getting started, On track or Challenge – start on On track and move up after a few right in a row.
Finish with the exit ticket and the talk question: “Why is (x + 3)² not equal to x² + 9? Use a diagram.”
Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.

Watch out for

Only multiplying the first term (3(x + 4) = 3x + 4). Draw arrows from the outside to every term inside.
Getting (x + 3)² = x² + 9. Write it as (x + 3)(x + 3) and use a grid: x² + 6x + 9.

Tip for home: Use the area of a garden split into parts to show expanding brackets.

What your child will learn

We are learning to multiply out brackets, including double brackets.

Success looks like

I can expand a single bracket.
I can expand double brackets.
I can expand and simplify.

Key words

expand: multiply out
bracket: groups terms together
binomial: an expression with two terms
like terms: terms that can be collected

What to have ready

Paper and a pencil
This page on a computer, tablet or phone
For the hands-on part: Draw a rectangle split into parts to show 3(x + 4) as an area.

The big ideas (for the adult)

To expand a bracket, multiply every term inside by the term outside: 3(x + 4) = 3x + 12.

For double brackets, multiply each term in the first bracket by each term in the second, then collect like terms. A grid helps.

Watch the signs: −2(x − 5) = −2x + 10.

The lesson, step by step

45 minutes in 5 parts
Part	Time	How it is checked
Starter: quick recall	5 min	Marked by Classfern
Teaching input	10 min	Not assessed, self-checked
Worked examples and guided practice	9 min	Not assessed, marked by Classfern
Independent practice	15 min	Marked by Classfern
Plenary and exit ticket	6 min	Marked by Classfern, self-checked

Starter, "your turn", practice and exit ticket are marked by Classfern. Worked examples and teaching are not assessed. The hands-on task and the reflection are self-assessed. Explanations in talk are judged by the parent and not recorded.

The lesson

It runs here on the page. No sign-up and no names – progress is kept only in this browser.

Homework and practice at home

20 minutes: 10 practice questions, 3 multiple-choice questions and 2 to remember from earlier work, then a short reflection. New questions every time, all marked instantly.

More practice

All Year 8 maths lessons and tests · Maths Department

More Year 8 maths lessons

Curriculum

National Curriculum for England, Year 8: “multiplying a single term over a bracket”

National Curriculum for England, Year 8: “collecting like terms”

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Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board.