🕵️‍♂️ Pattern Sleuths

Focus: Complex patterns, scaling, transformations, data analysis

Theme: Advanced analysis and transformations

Materials:

  • Paper and pencil

  • Ruler or measuring tape

  • Optional: Calculator or spreadsheet

Instructions:

  1. 🔍 Explore your home, yard, or neighborhood. Look for 2D and 3D shapes, sequences, patterns, and transformations.

  2. ✏️ Sketch or photograph shapes and patterns. Record geometric properties, dimensions, and repetitions.

  3. 📏 Measure lengths, widths, heights, or diameters. Record the data.

  4. 🔄 Identify scaling relationships, proportions, and transformations (translations, rotations, reflections).

  5. 📊 Analyze your data using tables, graphs, and ratio comparisons.

Discussion Questions

  • How do ratios of areas or volumes change under scaling?

  • Can you identify transformations (rotation, reflection, translation) in patterns or objects?

  • Which patterns could be represented mathematically with sequences or functions?

Optional Extensions

  1. 📐 Proportional Changes: Calculate scaled areas and volumes of objects.

  2. 🔣 Pattern Analysis: Represent patterns or transformations using algebraic expressions or formulas.

  3. 📊 Data Visualization: Use a spreadsheet or graph to visualize ratios, scaling, or patterns.