Open Middle®
Directions: Using the integers -9 to 9 at most one time each, place an integer in each box to make two expressions: one that has three or more terms and one that has fewer than three terms. You may reuse all the integers for each expression.
Hint
How might choosing digits keep or eliminate terms?
Answer
There are many possible answers. One example of an expression with three or more terms is (4x^8 – 3x + 1) + (-6x^5 + -5x) which equals 4x^8 – 6x^5 – 8x + 1. One example of an expression with fewer than three terms is (2x^1 – 6x + 4) + (-3x^0 + 5x) which equals x + 1.
Source: Robert Kaplinsky in Open Middle Math