Order the changes
Can you order pictures of the development of a frog from frogspawn
and of a bean seed growing into a plant?
Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
Problem
Can you order these pictures of the development of a frog from frogspawn?
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And these of a bean seed growing into a plant?
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You can download a copy of the frog pictures here and the bean pictures here.
We would be interested to hear not just about your final order, but how you decided upon the order.
Getting Started
If you find this difficult try using just one set of cards at first.
You could choose one card (any card) to start with. Then pick a second card. In what order do you think these two cards might go? Can you now fit a third card into the sequence?
Student Solutions
Natasha from Ricards Lodge reminds us that:
These cycles are just big circles which repeat themeselves over time, for example the life cycle of a frog starts with frogspawn, then they slowly grow into tadpoles and become fully grown frogs, this is where the cycle begins again.The plant is exactly the same, the seed germinates and grows, creates roots and the produces seeds in which another plant grows from.
You're right, Natasha. So, this means we could start anywhere in the cycle and order the pictures from that point.
Niharika from Leicester High School for Girls drew the two cycles for us in the correct order:
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Jessie from Ricards Lodge added descriptions to the order of the bean life cycle that she created. She has presented the cycle in three rows, going left to right on each, in this Word document.
Thank you to you all.
Teachers' Resources
Order the Changes
Can you order these pictures of the development of a frog from frogspawn?
Image
And these of a bean seed growing into a plant?
Image
You can download a copy of the frog pictures here and the bean pictures here.
We would be interested to hear not just about your final order, but how you decided upon the order.
Why do this problem?
This problem relates the development of the tadpole into frog, and the growth of a bean seed to changes over time. Children's idea of time develops slowly. The changes shown in this problem take considerably longer than a day, but much less than a year and so the activity will further learners' knowledge and understanding of the
passing of time. Simultaneously, children will be deepening their understanding of life cycles, and gaining valuable practice in looking for similarities and differences, and sequencing.
Possible approach
You will need a set of the tadpole/frog cards from this sheet and the bean cards from this sheet for each pair or small group.
If they are printed onto thin card they will be easier to use and if laminated, they should last a long time.
You could start with a discussion with the whole group about how they, and their friends and sisters and brothers, have changed over time. You could invite the class to bring in some pictures of themselves at younger ages or their parents as children to stimulate the discussion.
Next you could give each pair/small group all the tadpole and bean pictures mixed up, and ask them to talk about what they see. If it doesn't come up naturally, suggest they sort them into two sets. This can then lead into pairs/groups ordering one (or both) set of cards.
When they have had time to work on this, the whole group could come together again. Ask them to explain how they sorted the cards. Were there any particular difficulties? How long do they think that these changes would take?
Key questions
Do you think these cards go together? Why?
How will we find a card to go with this one?
Tell me about what you've done.