Happy Holidays to those of you who celebrate. This December the students created a Tessellation Tree in our classroom. This tree is more than just a colorful triangle. It is also is a Math Puzzle to solve! Do you see any patterns? The students quickly noted that the number of "trees" needed for each row was increasing by 2's and was always an odd number: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, etc. Then the students noticed a bigger pattern. If you count the number of trees needed for 1 row, 2, rows, 3 rows, the numbers go like this: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100. Do you see the pattern yet? Discuss the patterns with your student and predict how many trees you would need for a tree 25 rows tall. There is a way to solve this problem and predict the answer for any row!
Enjoy your Winter Break and
Happy Holidays to those who celebrate!
