Reply To: Lesson 3-4: Discussion Prompt

[Anna Clark]

So I actually had to take two entire classes on patterns in college and each class we just worked on a different pattern. The HARDEST part for me in the beginning was to find more than one way to see the pattern! I always loved it when I found the pattern with a long rule, then I would simplify the rule by combining like terms, look at the simplest form (in the heart pattern case the rule would be n^2+2n-) then look back at the pattern to see if I could see where it was happening geometrically.

All that to say, it trained me to ALWAYS look for another way to see things. And it’s something I hope to show my students as well! It’s not just a good math challenge to get them to back up and see something in a different way than theirs, it’s also a great life lesson.

[Anna Clark]

So I actually had to take two entire classes on patterns in college and each class we just worked on a different pattern. The HARDEST part for me in the beginning was to find more than one way to see the pattern! I always loved it when I found the pattern with a long rule, then I would simplify the rule by combining like terms, look at the simplest form (in the heart pattern case the rule would be n^2+2n-) then look back at the pattern to see if I could see where it was happening geometrically.

All that to say, it trained me to ALWAYS look for another way to see things. And it’s something I hope to show my students as well! It’s not just a good math challenge to get them to back up and see something in a different way than theirs, it’s also a great life lesson.