C1.1 Identify and describe the regularities in a variety of patterns, including patterns found in real-life contexts.
Activity 1: Discovering Patterns (Recognition)
Directions
Ask students to identify patterns in and around the school. To do this, suggest that they look closely at the walls, floors, windows, landscaping, etc.
Help them to discover patterns by asking questions such as:
- Look at the walls (windows, bricks, etc.) of the school. Do you see any patterns?
- Is there a consistent order (or core) in the way the windows are arranged (bricks, tiles covering the floors, trees, etc.)?
- Can you describe a rule? (Examples of a rule: on this outside wall, there is always a wall section followed by two windows, there are always two bricks followed by a brick with an orange line.)
Next, ask them to represent, using concrete materials or a drawing, an observed pattern. The students must create a pattern to show that there is indeed a consistent pattern rule.
Source : Guide d’enseignement efficace des mathématiques de la maternelle à la 3e année, p. 46.
Activity 2: The Pattern Musem (Description)
Directions
Create a "pattern museum" on a bulletin board with pictures or drawings of patterns discovered at home. Ask students relevant thought-provoking questions, such as:
- How would you describe the museum to someone visiting our class?
- Do all these examples have patterns? How do you know?
- If you were to group some of these images together, which ones would you put together? Why ?
This questioning prompts students to discuss the types of patterns in the museum and the characteristics of a pattern.
Source : Guide d’enseignement efficace des mathématiques de la maternelle à la 3e année, p. 47.
Activity 3: From Which Country? (Describe)
Directions
Fabrics have always been a way to express the cultural heritage of a people. That is why the colors and patterns of fabrics often give a clue as to the nationality of the people.
Show students a piece of fabric. Ask them to describe the patterns in the fabric, focusing on patterns and colors, explain how the same pattern can look very different if one of the attributes is color, and compare the patterns in the fabric with the patterns on their own clothes.
The exploration of fabrics leads students to discover different cultural expressions and to realize that the mathematics learned in school has a connection with the world around us.
Source : Guide d’enseignement efficace des mathématiques de la maternelle à la 3e année, p. 47.