The purpose of this activity is to engage students in identifying a (simple linear) pattern and using this to solve a problem.
This activity assumes the students have experience in the following areas:
The problem is sufficiently open ended to allow the students freedom of choice in their approach. It may be scaffolded with guidance that leads to a solution, and/or the students might be given the opportunity to solve the problem independently.
The example responses at the end of the resource give an indication of the kind of response to expect from students who approach the problem in particular ways.
A restaurant makes a super-long table by placing 4 normal tables end to end for a big party.
Each normal table usually seats 6 people around it.
How many people can sit down to eat at the long table?
The following prompts illustrate how this activity can be structured around the phases of the Mathematics Investigation Cycle.
Introduce the problem. Allow students time to read it and discuss in pairs or small groups.
Discuss ideas about how to solve the problem. Emphasise that, in the planning phase, you want students to say how they would solve the problem, not to actually solve it.
Allow students time to work through their strategy and find a solution to the problem.
Allow students time to check their answers and then either have them pair share with other groups or ask for volunteers to share their solution with the class.
The student draws a picture of the tables and seats. They count the seats to find the solution correctly.
Click on the image to enlarge it. Click again to close.
The student combines the table diagram with numbers, 5, 4, 4, 5, to indicate the number of seats possible for each table.
Printed from https://nzmaths.co.nz/resource/long-dinner at 8:47pm on the 26th April 2024