5th grade students have been working hard over the past two weeks learning all about "growing" or "shrinking" patterns. These are not simply repeating patterns, shape patterns, or color patterns, but tile patterns that continuously grow or shrink in some regular way every time. This means students are building patterns that have a pattern in how they grow or shrink.
First, students used color tiles to explore different patterns.
Next, students learned how to take each "step" of the pattern and put the information into a table, including how many new tiles they laid down each step, as well as how many total tiles were in their pattern at any given step.
Then the fifth graders learned how to make coordinate line graphs representing the step number verses new tiles. This allowed them to observe how the new number of tiles they were adding each time gradually grew or shrunk at regular increments each time.
Next, students graphed the step number verses the total amount of tiles in the pattern at every step on a line graph. This allowed students to see how the total number of tiles was shrinking or growing in a regular way.
Students repeated this process with many different patterns while we worked in a patterns packet. They even created some of their own!
At the end of the two weeks, they applied their knowledge to create a group growing or shrinking pattern. The groups colored the pattern on a large poster. Next they developed a table, two line graphs modeling the math in the pattern , and then wrote a paragraph describing how the pattern was changing. The group then got to name their pattern something wacky and fun!
Stop by Madison school to see all of our awesome patterns posters on display in the hallway outside the fifth grade classrooms!
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