Necklace patterns

Necklace patterns

Pencil and paper
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Further Resources
This task is about looking at a pattern and describing it.
a)   Look at the necklace and write down how many of each colour bead were used.
 
 
      Red _____ Green _____ Blue _____
 
b)   Make another necklace exactly the same as the one you are given.
 
      How many of each colour bead were used to make 2 necklaces?
 
 
      Red _____ Green _____ Blue _____
 
c)   Make another necklace exactly the same.
 
      How many of each colour bead were used to make 3 necklaces?
 
 
      Red _____ Green _____ Blue _____
 
   
 
d)  Without using the beads, work out how many of each colour you would need to make 10 necklaces.
 
 
     Red _____ Green _____ Blue _____
 
e)   How did you work this out?
Task administration: 
This task is completed with pencil and paper only, and equipment as described below.

Equipment:

Red, green, and blue beads, and threaders; a necklace made with nine beads threaded in this order: red, green, blue, blue, red, green, blue, blue, red.

  • Read the instructions aloud to the students.
  • For part a), give the students the necklace you have made to look at. Then let the students use the beads to help them answer parts b) and c).
  • Students should not use the beads for parts d) and e).
Level:
3
Curriculum info: 
Maths, Number and Algebra, Patterns and relationships
Keywords: 
repeating patterns, functional rules
Description of task: 
Students use coloured beads to explore and continue a spatial pattern. They then describe the pattern.
Learning Progression Frameworks
This resource can provide evidence of learning associated with
Patterns and relationships, sets 4-5
within the Mathematics Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Read more about the Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Answers/responses: 
 
a) 3 red, 2 green, 4 blue
b) 6 red, 4 green, 8 blue
c) 9 red, 6 green, 12 blue
d) 30 red, 20 green, 40 blue
e) Uses multiplication. Multiplied the number of each colour bead in the 
original necklace by 10.
Uses repeated addition. Red increases by 3, green by 2, blue by 4.

NOTE:   This could be done individually with the teacher recording the responses or as a group task with students writing down their answers.

 

 

Figure It Out