The first two weeks of school have flown by! We have been exploring patterns, reviewing concepts, and getting to know one another! Check out the Origami Math art piece that we created in our classroom! During the first week, each student chose a patterned paper and followed directions to fold it. At each step, we would stop and talk about units, area, the length of the sides, and perimeter. We also practiced supporting our reasoning with evidence during our class discussion. We took notes at each step and in the final step, folded our piece into a triangular pyramid. On Monday, when the students returned to class, their pyramids had been arranged into a pretty cool wall art. Some challenge questions were added for those ready to go "above and beyond."
We read "What Do You Do with a Problem?" and discussed how we can look at the positive things that we can learn from a problem. We talked about the negative connotation that the word "problem" has and what it means that we use this word for the challenges we are assigned in math. We also discussed how "worrying" and "avoiding" keep us from finding solutions and the opportunties for learning that "problems" present. We are continuing to learn about growing our "Math Brain."
This week we started out looking for patterns on pinecones. We observed "spirals" or helices and tried counting them. When students reported their findings, I sometimes asked them to count again. I asked the class to think about what this told them about the number of helices and they quickly came to the conclusion that there must be a pattern. This led to an introduction to the Fibonacci sequence. The number of helices on a pinecone corresponds to a number in the Fibonacci sequence. The cool thing is that the number of clockwise and counterclockwise helices are not always the same. There are also many sets of helices that you can find on the same pinecone. Our study of Fibonacci numbers will continue. We look forward to what we learn about the mathematical patterns in the world around us!
We read "What Do You Do with a Problem?" and discussed how we can look at the positive things that we can learn from a problem. We talked about the negative connotation that the word "problem" has and what it means that we use this word for the challenges we are assigned in math. We also discussed how "worrying" and "avoiding" keep us from finding solutions and the opportunties for learning that "problems" present. We are continuing to learn about growing our "Math Brain."
This week we started out looking for patterns on pinecones. We observed "spirals" or helices and tried counting them. When students reported their findings, I sometimes asked them to count again. I asked the class to think about what this told them about the number of helices and they quickly came to the conclusion that there must be a pattern. This led to an introduction to the Fibonacci sequence. The number of helices on a pinecone corresponds to a number in the Fibonacci sequence. The cool thing is that the number of clockwise and counterclockwise helices are not always the same. There are also many sets of helices that you can find on the same pinecone. Our study of Fibonacci numbers will continue. We look forward to what we learn about the mathematical patterns in the world around us!