C1.1 Identify and describe repeating elements and operations in a variety of patterns, including patterns found in real-life contexts
Activity 1: Discovering Patterns! (Recognize)
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 rule. The students must then 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: Pattern Museum (Describe)
Directions
Create a "pattern museum" on a bulletin board with pictures or drawings of patterns discovered at home. Ask relevant thought-provoking questions such as:
- How would you describe the Pattern Museum to someone visiting our class?
- Do all these examples have patterns? How do you know?
- If you had to group some of these images together, which ones would you put together and 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? (Description)
Fabrics have always been a way to express the cultural heritage of a people. That is why the colours 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 colours, to show how the same pattern can look very different if one of the attributes is colour, and to compare the patterns in the fabric with those in their own clothes.
Exploring fabrics allows students to discover different cultural expressions and to realize that the mathematics they learn in school has a connection to the world around them.
Source : Guide d’enseignement efficace des mathématiques de la maternelle à la 3e année, p. 47.
Activity 4: Describe the Operation that is Repeated
Present the following situation to the students.
Each week, students at the school have physical education classes. Here is a chart that summarizes the number of physical education classes students had during 10 weeks.
| Number of Weeks | Number of Courses |
|---|---|
| 1 | 4 |
| 2 | 8 |
| 3 | 12 |
| 4 | 16 |
| 5 | 20 |
| 6 | 24 |
| 7 | 28 |
| 8 | 32 |
| 9 | 36 |
| 10 | 40 |
Ask students the following questions:
- When you analyze the data, what do you notice?
- Is it a numerical or non-numeric pattern? Is it a growing pattern or not? How do you know?
- Can you determine the pattern rule? Justify your answer.