firstly explain (x-3)2 = (x-3)(x-3) on the whiteboard I'd draw a square grid with each of the numbers, then I'd multiply out. E.g. x multiplied by x = x2; x multiplied by -3 = -3x and so on.. (remembering that multiplying 2 negative numbers gives you a positive number) Then you can put them in order to give you x2-6x+9 Could also go on to explain that if the question were asking what for a solution to the question 0= (x-3)2 then your answer would be x=3 as (3-3)2 = (0)2 = 0. Also could potentially give some context with putting into a graph and showing how you would plot if the question was y = x2-6x+9