Order of Operations with Whole Numbers

Order of operations is an agreement: a convention that lets every mathematician evaluate the same expression and get the same answer. BEDMAS (Brackets, Exponents, Division/Multiplication left to right, Addition/Subtraction left to right) is that agreement. Without it, 3 + 4 x 2 would be ambiguous: does it equal 14 (adding first) or 11 (multiplying first)? The convention resolves this: multiplication first gives 11. Students who understand WHY the convention exists are far more reliable in applying it than students who only know the mnemonic.