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Order of Operations Worksheets

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Order of operations without exponents: parentheses first, then multiply and divide, then add and subtract, with one line for each step and keys that show them.

Download the order of operations worksheets

The rules

The three rules in a panel at the top, with problems that show each one.

Order of operations practice

Two operations without parentheses, two with parentheses, and three-step problems, each with a line per step.

Where do the parentheses go?

Put one pair of parentheses into a number sentence to make it true.

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

About these order of operations worksheets

When a number sentence has more than one operation, everyone has to do the steps in the same order, or the same problem gets different answers. The rule has three parts. Work inside parentheses first. Then multiply and divide, from left to right. Then add and subtract, from left to right. So 3 + 4 × 2 is 3 + 8 = 11, but (3 + 4) × 2 is 7 × 2 = 14.

These pages are written for upper elementary, with whole numbers and no exponents. Children rewrite the number sentence after every step, so each line has one operation fewer than the line before, and the answer key shows every step. That makes it easy to see where an answer went wrong.

The pages go from two operations without parentheses, to parentheses, to three-step problems. The add-the-parentheses puzzles turn the rule around: children decide where the parentheses must go to make a number sentence true.

Standards

  • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.OA.A.3Solve multistep word problems posed with whole numbers and having whole-number answers using the four operations, including problems in which remainders must be interpreted. Represent these problems using equations with a letter standing for the unknown quantity. Assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies including rounding.

How to use them

  1. Start with Order of Operations: The Rules. It has the three rules at the top of the page.
  2. Insist on one step per line. Doing two steps at once is where most mistakes happen.
  3. Move from no parentheses to parentheses to three steps.
  4. Use the add-the-parentheses puzzles as a challenge or warm-up; they make children think about what parentheses do.

Teaching tips

  • Multiply and divide are equal partners: do whichever comes first from the left. The same goes for add and subtract.
  • Underline the part to do first before writing the next line.
  • In 20 − 6 + 2, subtract first because it comes first: 14 + 2 = 16, not 20 − 8.
  • Check by asking whether parentheses would change the answer.

Questions teachers and parents ask

What is the order of operations?

Work inside parentheses first, then multiply and divide from left to right, then add and subtract from left to right.

Do you always multiply before you divide?

No. Multiplication and division have the same rank, so you do whichever comes first reading from the left. The same is true of addition and subtraction.

Do these worksheets use exponents?

No. They are written for 4th and 5th grade, with whole numbers, the four operations and parentheses only.