This report recognizes the common mistakes students make solving single variable equations and attempts to connect these errors to varying levels of developmental readiness. Striving to meet the needs of all students, this report offers an alternative to lecture based mathematics lessons by exploring the benefits of a unit based curriculum. The unit poses an overarching problem for the students to investigate and answer, while the students still receive the instruction on solving algebraic equations. The goal is to move beyond traditional procedures when solving equations to help students become more familiar with symbol manipulation involved in solving real world story problems. / text