Practice Tests

Chapter 20: Patterning and Algebraic Thinking

1. You ask the question below:
   What is the 8th number in this pattern: 2, 4, 6, ….. ?
   The student says 4. How do you respond?
2. Why might asking the second question give different information than the first one about a student’s ability to extend a pattern?
   First question: What comes next?
   
   Second question: What comes next?
   
3. Provide four or five examples to show how pattern is fundamental to the development of number concepts.
4. In what way is the meaning of n different in the equation 3 + n = 10 and the equation 2n + 7 = n + 7 + n?
5. Describe 3 different ways students might approach solving the equation 2s – 7 = 19.
6. When you teach about measurement formulas, why are you also teaching algebraic concepts?
7. How might a student misinterpret what the expression 4n means? What can you do to minimize the likelihood this occurs?
8. How does a T-chart bring out both the recursive notion of pattern as well as the concept of function?