Sparking Joy through Patterning in Our World
Welcome, families! This month, let's use our senses to notice and explore the world of Patterning. From the design of a spiderweb to the rhythm of a song, patterns are everywhere! Recognizing, describing, and creating patterns helps students make predictions and develop thinking skills. When we highlight these patterns in everyday life, math becomes a joyful journey of discovery.
Connecting it Back to the Classroom
Patterning builds a strong foundation for algebraic thinking and problem-solving across all grades. In early years children are learning to identify, describe, extend, and create repeating patterns (e.g., ABABAB) and growing patterns. As student’s understanding of patterning continues these early experiences form the building blocks to understanding of patterns through tables of values, establishing pattern rules, developing linear algebraic equations, and graphing patterns.
Engaging in Patterning Conversations at Home
Patterns are naturally everywhere in our daily lives! Here's how to create math conversations around them:
Nature’s Patterns → Look at the sunflower or pinecone. What patterns do you notice in how the seeds are arranged?"
- Primary: “Do the seeds or petals repeat? What comes next?”
- Junior: “Can you count how many rows or spirals there are? Is there a pattern in the numbers?”
- Intermediate: “Does this arrangement remind you of any mathematical sequences, like the Fibonacci sequence? Can you explain why this might be efficient in nature?”
Patterns Around the House → Look at the tiles on the floor (or the pattern on a rug or blanket)."
Primary: “What colours or shapes repeat?”
Junior: “Can you describe the repeating unit? How many times does it show up in this space?”
Intermediate: “If each tile is a square foot, and the pattern repeats every 4 tiles, how many full patterns would fit in a 10 ft × 8 ft room? Can you model this with multiplication or algebra?”
Patterns in Time and Routines → Think about what we do every day before school, or each week with our activities.
- Primary: “What do we do every morning that repeats?”
Junior: “Can you make a chart of our weekly schedule and find the pattern?”
Intermediate: “If we have soccer every third day starting Monday, on which days will it fall over the next two weeks? Can you represent this pattern with a rule or number sentence?”
Counting and Number Patterns - Let’s explore a number pattern together."
- Primary: “When we count by 5s or 10s, what do you notice about the numbers?”
Junior: “Here’s a pattern: 3, 6, 9, 12... What’s the rule? What comes next?”
Intermediate: “If the pattern grows by 3 each time, how can we write a rule for the nth term? What does the graph of this pattern look like?”
Patterns in Music or Movement → Let’s create a rhythm or body movement pattern."
- Primary: “Try a simple pattern like clap-clap-stomp. What comes next?”
Junior: “How many beats are in your pattern? Can you change it to grow by one movement each time?”
Intermediate: “If you repeated your pattern for 1 minute at 120 beats per minute, how many full patterns would fit? Can we express that mathematically?”
A Fantastic Resource for Families: Visual Patterns
An incredible online resource for exploring patterns is www.visualpatterns.org. This website offers a rich collection of growing visual patterns, each shown in three stages. Can you describe the patterns? Make a prediction of what comes next ?
At home choose a pattern together that looks interesting or challenging for your child's age. Looking at the first few steps of the pattern together discuss what you notice and how the pattern changes. Ask the child to draw or describe what they think Stage 4 or Stage 5 may look like. Encourage them to talk about how they know. For another challenge (for older students) ask how we can figure out the number of components at any stage, even Stage 100 of the pattern? This encourages some algebraic thinking!
By exploring patterns with "Visual Patterns" and in your daily life, you'll be fostering critical thinking, prediction skills, and a deeper appreciation for the mathematical order in our world.
Happy patterning!