SAT Math Lesson Plan 6: Systems of Equations—Word Problems

This 45-minute SAT Math prep lesson focuses on solving word problems using systems of linear equations. Students will learn how to translate real-world scenarios into algebraic equations and apply strategies such as substitution, elimination, and graphing to find solutions. Topics include mixture problems, work-rate problems, age problems, value problems, and break-even comparisons. Each example walks students through a step-by-step solution and includes visuals like tables and graphs to build conceptual understanding. The lesson includes a warm-up, five in-depth instructional examples, guided practice, a review section, and a 10-question SAT-style quiz with a detailed answer key. This is part of a 35-lesson library designed to cover the full range of SAT Math content. Systems of equations appear in the Heart of Algebra domain, which accounts for approximately 33% of SAT Math questions.

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