LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Counting Embedded Figures

http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=L250

A lesson plan for Grades 5–8 Mathematics

Provider: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

About this resource

Appropriate grades
5–8
Provider
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Legal

Creative Commons License

This catalog record is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. This license applies to the content of this page only and does not apply to the referenced website.

In this lesson from Illuminations, students look for patterns within a given figure. After looking at the figure, students count embedded squares, rectangles, or triangles, attempt to form generalizations, and sharpen their algebraic thinking skills.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Mathematics (2004)

Grade 5

  • Goal 1: Number and Operations - The learner will understand and compute with non-negative rational numbers.
    • Objective 1.03: Develop flexibility in solving problems by selecting strategies and using mental computation, estimation, calculators or computers, and paper and pencil.
  • Goal 5: Algebra - The learner will demonstrate an understanding of patterns, relationships, and elementary algebraic representation.
    • Objective 5.01: Describe, extend, and generalize numeric and geometric patterns using tables, graphs, words, and symbols.

Grade 6

  • Goal 1: Number and Operations - The learner will understand and compute with rational numbers.
    • Objective 1.07: Develop flexibility in solving problems by selecting strategies and using mental computation, estimation, calculators or computers, and paper and pencil.
  • Goal 4: Data Analysis and Probability - The learner will understand and determine probabilities.
    • Objective 4.01: Develop fluency with counting strategies to determine the sample space for an event. Include lists, tree diagrams, frequency distribution tables, permutations, combinations, and the Fundamental Counting Principle.

Grade 7

  • Goal 1: Number and Operations - The learner will understand and compute with rational numbers.
    • Objective 1.03: Develop flexibility in solving problems by selecting strategies and using mental computation, estimation, calculators or computers, and paper and pencil.

Grade 8

  • Goal 1: Number and Operations -The learner will understand and compute with real numbers.
    • Objective 1.02: Develop flexibility in solving problems by selecting strategies and using mental computation, estimation, calculators or computers, and paper and pencil.