Year 6 Calculating using knowledge of equivalence in addition and subtraction worksheet

“Balancing addition sums” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 6 maths unit “Calculating using knowledge of equivalence in addition and subtraction”, for children aged 10 to 11, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 30 to 31 of the year, 5 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Balancing addition sums

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 6 · Maths · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can balance equations with addition expressions and find the missing number.

A Look back3 min

1.
= 2500 + 1300
2.
Ali has 3 bags with 12 marbles in each bag. How many marbles in total?
3.
How many tens are in 70?

B Watch me, then you4 min

Find k in this balance: k + 500 = 800 + 200. Compare the parts before adding anything.

Watch me

500 is on the left and 800 is on the right. 500 is 300 less than 800.

So k must be 300 more than 200 to keep both sides equal.

200 + 300 = 500, so k is 500. Check: 500 + 500 = 1000 and 800 + 200 = 1000.

Now you

1.
p + 200 = 700 + 100. p is

C Your turn6 min

Find the missing number that keeps both sides equal.

1.
a + 100 = 300 + 200. a is
2.
b + 100 = 300 + 250. b is
3.
c + 150 = 300 + 250. c is
4.
e + 150 = 400 + 250 + 50. e is

Say it out loud: What changed from the row above? Did the answer change by the same amount?

D Spot the mistake2 min

Ali says: “a + 300 = 500 + 400, so a must be 500.”

1.
What is a really?

E Think deeper3 min

Without adding up the totals, work out which symbol goes in the box. Say why out loud before you check.

A pair of old brass balance scales on a wooden table, both pans level and empty

1.
3400 + 200 3500 + 300. Write < or > in the box.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Balancing addition sums · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. 3800

2. 36

3. 7

B

1. 600 If your child writes 1000, they added 200 instead of taking it away. 200 is 500 less than 700, so p must be 500 more than 100.

C

1. 400 If your child writes 600, they added 100 instead of taking it away. 100 is 200 less than 300, so a must be 200 more than 200.

2. 450 If your child writes 200, they took 100 from 300 and forgot the 250. 100 is 200 less than 300, so b must be 200 more than 250.

3. 400

4. 550 If your child writes 500, they left out the last 50 on the right. 150 is 250 less than 400, so e must be 250 more than 250 + 50, which is 300.

D

1. 600 Ali copied 500 from the right side. 300 is 100 less than 400, so a must be 100 more than 500.

E

1. < If your child writes >, compare the parts first. 3400 is less than 3500, and 200 is less than 300, so the left side is smaller.

Words to use

Say“Which side is already known? What must the other side add up to?”

Instead of“Work out every total first, then guess which is bigger.”

After the sheet

Put two equal piles of coins on a tray. Add a 20p coin to one pile and ask what the other pile needs to balance.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

4 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Balancing subtraction sums(with a plan)
Lawns, sums and missing sides(with a plan)
Keeping equations balanced(with a plan)
Balancing without full sums(with a plan)

Every Year 6 maths worksheet

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