Problem Solving Prompts
Learning Goals:
- Predict terms in a pattern
- Develop and apply reasoning skills to make and test math predictions
- Communicate mathematical thinking orally and visually
The Challenge:
Imagine setting up some tables with chairs around them like this:
If this pattern continued, how many chairs would fit around a row of 10 tables?
What about a row of 20 tables?
What about a row of 57 tables?
Questions and Prompts to Support your Child:
- What have you noticed? What have you tried so far? What could we try together?
- Would 5 tables have half as many chairs as 10 tables? Why not?
- Why don’t 20 tables have double the number of chairs that 10 tables had?
- How did you count the chairs around each set of tables?
- Did you notice any patterns? How did these patterns help you figure out longer rows?
Extensions & Adaptations:
- The Mathies pattern block app might be useful in building some tables & chairs
- Try figuring out some larger rows of tables, once the pattern has been discovered!
- What would happen to the pattern if we used a different shaped table? (like triangles,
hexagons, or trapezoids)
Categories: Elementary