Building Patterns

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

pattern of bottle tops
Look carefully at the pattern above.
What do you notice?
Estimate the number of bottle tops that have been used. Now count them.
Are the colours important? Does that help you count up more quickly?
What do you think was in the mind of the girl that designed this?
Why not take some counters and see if you can detect what it is she was trying to do?
Just what was her "rule"?
arrangement of cubes
Similarly what is happening here?
Estimate how many cubes have been used.
Look carefully ... there are four different colours used in this construction ... How many of each are used?
Are you sure? Check carefully.
What rule was used to join them?
How will the design continue?
After two more stages how many cubes will you have used?

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