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Suggested Procedures:
1) Students will be assigned a sequence and series review problems prior to this
lesson and any issues will then be discussed in class.
2) Students will work independently with Geometer’s SketchPad to complete the
table entries on their worksheet.
3) Students will then pair up to discuss their findings and answer the questions under
the 4 parts of the worksheet.
3) Find two different explicit rules for the following sequence so that the 5th terms are different: 3,
5, 7, 9, …
_____________
Can you generalize this pattern? ______________
________________________________
Can you generalize this pattern? ___________________________
7) Using the method of the previous problem, find the next number in each sequence:
9) Every square number can be written as the sum of two triangular numbers. For example
16 6 10 . Draw an illustration of this fact by dividing a square array of dots with a line.
Show geometric representations for 25 and 36 as the sum of two triangular numbers.
10) Eight times any triangular number, plus 1, is a square number. Show that this is true for the first
four triangular numbers.
11) Divide the first triangular number by 3 and record the remainder. Divide the second triangular
number by 3 and record the remainder. Repeat this procedure several more times. Do you
notice a pattern? If so, what is this pattern?
12) Repeat the previous exploration, using square numbers and dividing by 4. What pattern is
determined ?
13) Can you make a general statement regarding the work you have done in the previous two
exercises?
If you add two consecutive triangular numbers, what kind of figurate number do you get?
If you add the squares of two consecutive triangular numbers, what kind of figurate number do you
get?
Square a triangular number. Square the next triangular number. Subtract the smaller result from the
larger. What kind of number do you get?
Find explicit formulas for triangular, square, pentagonal, hexagonal, heptagonal, and octagonal
numbers.
1. Begin by drawing a large circle using Geometers Sketchpad. Make the circle as large as you can
while still entirely visible on your screen.
2. Leave the first point on the boundary of the circle. Hide the center point
4. Connect the points on the boundary of the circle and begin filling in the chart below:
Row 2: 3
Row 3: 4
Row 4: 5
Row 5: 6
Row 6: 7
Part 1 – Column 1
1. What name do we give this pattern?
Part 2 – Column 2
3) Use the TI-Nspire to enter column 2 as a sequence. Determine the appropriate regression
model to describe the data and perform the regression analysis. Which regression model did
you use and why?
*Internet Extension*
This sequence has a specific name in the field of mathematics.
What is it and why is that name appropriate?
Part 3 – Column 3
1) Can you find a pattern in column 3?
3) Use the TI-Nspire to enter column 3 as a sequence. Determine the appropriate regression
model to describe the data and perform the regression analysis. Which regression model did
you use and why?
*Extension*
Describe this sequence recursively. Leave all coefficients are in fractional form.
Part 4 – Column 4
1) Can you find a pattern in column 4?
*Extension*
Use the TI-Nspire to enter column 4 as a sequence. Is there a regression model that fits the data
accurately? If so, which regression model did you use and how good is it?
Alternate method: Draw the circle and for each point drawn, draw the diagonals counter-clockwise
(or clockwise) from the point drawn. As you draw each diagonal, write down the number of
diagonals it intersects. Organize work as follows:
Project AMP Dr. Antonio R. Quesada Director, Project AMP
0 (2 points = 1 diagonal with 0 intersections)
0 0 (3rd point added: each of 2 diagonals with 0 intersections)
0 1 0 (4th point added: first diagonal 0 intersections, 2nd intersects one, etc.)
0 2 2 0
Try to complete the next 3 rows.
Reflection on Learning:
Summarize the possible methods that you can use to determine an explicit formula for a sequence.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using a recursive formula versus an explicit formula.
I am cutting a pizza for my students. Every cut will be a chord of a circle. What is the maximum
number of pieces of pizza (not all necessarily equal) that I can get by making 4 cuts? 5 cuts? 6 cuts?
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