Our lesson today was to work with Pascal's Triangle. Our mindset was to open our minds to thinking about patterns.
To warm up our brains, we began by working with math analogies, then we completed our estimation180 activity. Next, I discussed our misconception for the day: math is only about numbers and operations.
To refute this idea, the students watched the video from youcubed.org for Day 4 in which they should Fibonacci's number pattern and then visually demonstrate the spiral created by this pattern. The kids LOVED it!
Once we completed the video, I gave the kids a 3 minute pause:
On your index card, complete one (or more) of the following sentences:
- I was surprised about…
- I became more aware of…
- I want to know more about...
Now it was time to work with a new pattern... Pascal's triangle. We began by filling in the missing numbers using the idea that the numbers are triangular. The two numbers above the blank, added together, created the missing number. From there we explored some other patterns:
- Describe the pattern found by finding the sum of each row in Pascal's triangle.
- Color in all of the odd numbers and describe the pattern.
- What pattern do you see when shading in all of the triangular numbers?
After spending time exploring Pascal's Triangle, we revisited three key concepts:
- Patterns are everywhere.
- Patterns are important in math.
- Patterns help us connect numbers and visuals.
To end the day, I asked the students to complete a 3-2-1:
- 3 things you learned about patterns
- 2 things that surprised you
- 1 unique pattern you found in Pascal’s Triangle
It was a great first week! Have a great weekend and don't forget our Parent Meeting on Monday!
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