Learning Links
Music / Language / Tangrams / Sentences / Quilts / Time / Statistics / Square Dance / Habits / Symmetry /Puzzles / Trends / Ethnicity
Related Concepts
Laws of Nature / Organic Cycles / Inorganic Cycles / Mathematical Patterns
Demonstrators should be read from bottom to top, but need not be demonstrated sequentially.
Elementary Demonstrators
• Use senses to observe items; communicate similarities and/or differences.
• Identify and communicate common attributes of items in a group.
• Classify objects according to one property or attribute.
• Classify objects according to more than one property or attribute.
• Recognize, describe, and create patterns (e.g., repeating, developmental, behavioral, symmetrical, cyclical) of objects or events.
• Demonstrate relationships among patterns.
• Make predictions (extrapolate and interpolate) based on patterns.
Middle School Demonstrators
• Identify causes of observed patterns.
• Analyze collected data to discover patterns and predict outcomes.
• Formulate a pattern which represents an observed set of occurrences (e.g., data tables, equations).
• Investigate the existence of small- scale variations within a large-scale pattern.
• Investigate the relationships and interactions of two or more patterns.
High School Demonstrators
• Compare and contrast regular, irregular, and cyclic patterns.
• Represent patterns using mathematical expressions.
• Demonstrate interrelationships among multiple cycles and one or more rhythms.
• Evaluate and represent possible correlations between sets of observed data.
• Predict trends or events, given sets of long-term or systemic data, and evaluate outcomes.
Sample Teaching/Assessment Strategies
Collaborative Process: / Community-Based Instruction: Networking, Field Studies / Continuous Progress Assessment: Portfolio Development, Performance Events/Exhibitions / Problem Solving: Inquiry, Formulating Models, Research, Interviews, Surveys, Polls / Technology/Tools / Whole Language Approach / Writing Process
These sample strategies offer ideas and are not meant to limit teacher resourcefulness. More strategies are found in the resource section.
Ideas for Incorporating Community Resources
• Have the local agriculture extension agent lead your class on a field study of erosion patterns and prevention.
• Invite a police investigator to the classroom to discuss DNA fingerprinting, patrol patterns, crime investigation, and composite photos.
• Utilize courthouse records to study shifts in local population patterns to predict future trends.
Core Concept - Patterns
Sample Elementary Activities
• Create sounds using natural or man-made objects and then try to duplicate those sounds using different objects. Group the objects by similarity of sound produced and identify the characteristics the objects have in common. PE, P
• Vary the volume of water in a bottle to determine the effect on the pitch produced. Use findings to predict the pitch produced by an untested volume of water. PE
• Create a symmetrical pattern (e.g., quilts, paper snowflakes, attribute blocks) after studying other patterns. PE
• Study a stack of cubes with a pattern and predict the cubes that could be added at the beginning and end of the sequence. PE, OE
• Collect items in nature that have a definite pattern (e.g., spider webs, leaves, fish scales) and design a classification system. PE, P
• Investigate patterns related to human activates (e.g., climate, sleeping habits, schedules) and represent them using computer graphics. PE, P
• Obtain five photos taken or selected at random. Create a story, poem, or song about patterns discovered in the pictures. PE, OE, P
Applications Across the Curriculum
Language Arts
• Illustrate a calendar with poems reflecting moods during the year. P
Mathematics
• Observe and compare geometric patterns in nature. Find examples of the patterns in manufactured items or architecture. PE
Social Studies
• Examine and classify patterns found in rural and urban settings. PE
Arts and Humanities
• Make rubbings of items collected on a nature walk and describe the patterns discovered. PE
• Create a sound pattern using rhythm instruments. PE
Practical Living
• Interview family, friends, and neighbors for past and present recycling behavior. Predict future environmental impact based upon the trend. PE, P
• Use a microscope to observe patterns made by the weave in different kinds of fabric. Test the strength of the fabrics. PE, P
Vocational Education
• Identify characteristics of eroding and non-erroding terrain. Suggest actions to correct the erosion. PE
• Survey a multi-generational family's history of the incidence of tooth decay. Hypothesize and analyze differences between generations. P
• Brainstorm ways patterns of family life change as the seasons change (e.g., food, clothing, family activities). PE, OE
Sample Middle School Activities
• Use a spreadsheet to record and tabulate data showing the following relationships: (1) time of day to temperature, and (2) time of day to kilowatt hours of electricity used in your home or school. OE, P
• Collect, display, and analyze data showing relationships among age, gender, and growth of humans from ages 6 to 40. PE, OE, P
• Determine and compare relative densities of different objects (e.g., lead, wood, oil, plastic). Display findings using computer graphics. Analyze observed patterns. PE, P
• Predict the weather using data collected from observatons and measurements. lnclude investigations about the relatonship between cloud type and air pressure. Display findings. PE, P
• Construct a shadow stick (gnomon) and measure shadows generated. Graph the data using computer graphics. Make inferences or predictions using the information. PE, P
Applications Across the Curriculum
Language Arts
• Collect random observations from a walking tour. Classify the observations by one or more characteristics or properties. Display the observations and/or the classification system. PE, P
Mathematics
• Create a model of rabbit population growth to predict the number of rabbits after ten seasons. PE, P
Social Studies
• Analyze and chart economic patterns and cycles in American history, and explore interrelationships with concurrent political events. P
• Build a model rocket with a camera in the capsule. Use the rocket to photograph a land area. Examine the geographic features and create a scale model of the landscape from the photograph. PE, P
Arts and Humanities
• Create a museum display depicting or illustrating patterns evident in music, art, cultures, literature, drama, and dance. PE, P
• Draw visual patterns that you discover in nature (e.g., sedimentation layers, waves, crystals, honeycombs). PE, P
Practical Living
• Graph smoking and nonsmoking trends in the United States for the past 50 years. Analyze correlations in the research. OE, P
• Research the causes of the cycle of violence in relationships (e.g., dating, marriage, family). Investigate ways and means of breaking the violence cycle. Present findings to others (e.g., poster campaign for school awareness, article in school newspaper). P
Vocational Education
• Build a small motor and report on the effects of the magnetic field that cause the motor to run. PE, P
• Design disposable, environmentally safe packaging for an existing product. PE, P
Sample High School Activities
• Predict future trends for environmental qualities (e.g., temperature, ozone, pollution) from evaluations of research data collected over a 100-year period. Access through telecommunications and CD-ROM. PE, P
• Determine the location of the epicenter of an earthquake by monitoring P and S wave patterns using a computer simulation. PE
• Predict oil consumption over a 100-year period using at least three different rates of increase by manipulating data recorded on a spreadsheet. PE, P
• Prepare a database to access information about chemicals found in the chemistry lab. Use software accessing MODS (Materials Safety Data Sheet) forms to support the database. P
• Illustrate biological succession in your community (e.g., old field succession, pond succession, community succession) by producing a video. P
Applications Across the Curriculum
Variations on a theme: Urban Concepts
Language Arts
• Investigate and compare behavior patterns of literary characters who live in urban settings. Use literature from two distinct periods in history. PE, OE, P
Mathematics
• Design and conduct a survey on population growth and/or population shifts in selected urban areas. Process and report the information using a database. P
Social Studies
• Chart the changing nature of urban development (e.g., economic adjustments, territorial growth, demographic shifts). PE, OE, P
Arts and Humanities
• Create a museum display representing shifting urban population patterns. Include examples from music, art, literature, drama, and dance. PE, P
Practical Living
• Review typical urban family life cycle from time periods at least a century apart. Prepare a personal life cycle and compare it to those studied. PE, OE, P
Vocational Education
• Investigate trends in job types and availability in urban areas. OE, P