You may have heard about Aunt Sally before, but in case you have not, she is the queen of...

Order of Operations!

The order of operations is a series of steps for evaluating a mathematical expression. Think of it as a recipe. When baking cupcakes, you need to make sure to follow the steps in order so that you end up with a nice dessert and not a pile of mush! You cannot put the dough in the oven before adding the eggs, or put icing on the cupcakes before you have baked the dough. Just like a recipe, you must follow the operations in order so that you end up with the correct answer!

Like the video stated, the order of operations is

Parenthesis
Exponents
Multiplication
Division
Addition
Subtraction

We use mnemonic devices to help us remember the order of operations, or PEMDAS. The most common is

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally

So, always think of Aunt Sally to help you evaluate an expression!