Growing Patterns

Curriculum Goal

Recognize, explore, describe, and compare patterns, and extend, translate, and create them, using the core of a pattern and predicting what comes next (#18).

Students and teacher will be sitting on the carpet in a circle. Students should have previous experience with patterns and making patterns.

Bring out one snake and say that this snake can play basketball if it has two magical pellets.
Then bring out a snake twice the size. Ask How many pellets will this snake need to play basketball?
Present a smaller snake and ask the same question as above.
Listen to children’s theories about how many pellets the snakes need.
Reinforce that they are learning about patterns and that there will be some pattern to how many pellets the snakes will need.
Repeat the steps above using different pattern combinations.
Patterns can include doubling, adding by three, etc.
If children become proficient at spotting patterns, children can make up their own patterns and share it with their classmates.

Are they able to express their reasoning?
Are children able to identify the pattern and calculate at the next and previous iteration?

Students predict the next sequence of a pattern.

Practice recognizing, extending and using the pattern core to predict what comes next.