System of Equations with M&Ms
This is an activity to aid in the understanding of solving system of equations.
1. Before any candy is eaten, complete the following tally for each color of M&Ms.
# of M&Ms
Red
Blue
Green
Orange
Yellow
Brown
Total
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
(R)
(B)
(G)
(X)
(Y)
(Z)
2. Use the information from the above tally to complete each equation below. Use the amounts of
counted candy to make the equations in the system true. (For example, if there are 7 orange M&M and
11 yellow M&M, then X + Y = 18). Solve each system using linear combination (elimination) or
substitution. When you are finished, your answers should match the information in #1.
A. X  Y  ___
X  Y  ___
D. 2 X  5Y  ___
4 X  3Y  ___
B. 2 Z  R  ___
Z  R  ___
C. 3B  R  ___
B  2 R  ___
E. 2Z  3G  ___
Z  G  ___
F .  2G  4 B  ___
3G  3B  ___
Challenge Problems:
G. X  Y  Z  ___
2 X  Y  Z  ___
X
2 Z  ___
H . 2G  R  B  ___
G  2 R  B  ___
3G  4 R
 ___