Overview: The Grade 4 Algebra curriculum focuses on developing students' abilities to identify, describe, create, and extend patterns. Students learn to use these patterns to make predictions and solve problems. The curriculum is designed to connect algebraic thinking with real-life contexts, enhancing students' understanding of numbers and operations.
Main Subsections:
Identifying and Describing Patterns (C1.1):
Content: Students are introduced to repeating, growing, and shrinking patterns. They learn to identify these patterns in various contexts, including real-life scenarios.
Skills:
Describe the regularities in patterns.
Compare linear growing patterns based on their constant rates and initial values.
Sample Problem: Describe the pattern in the sequence: 2, 4, 6, 8, ... What will be the 10th number in the sequence?
Video Resource: Understanding Patterns - A video explaining how to identify different types of patterns.
Video Resource: Pattern Core - A video explaining repeating patterns and how to identify the pattern core.
Creating and Translating Patterns (C1.2):
Content: This section emphasizes creating and translating patterns using movements, sounds, objects, shapes, letters, and numbers.
Skills:
Create patterns using various representations.
Translate patterns into different forms, such as tables of values and graphs.
Sample Problem: Create a growing pattern using shapes. Start with 1 square, then add 2 triangles, then 3 circles. What shape comes next, and how many of them?
Video Resource: Creating Patterns - A tutorial on creating and translating patterns using different representations.
Extending Patterns and Making Predictions (C1.3):
Content: Students learn to determine the rules governing patterns and use these rules to extend patterns, make predictions, and identify missing elements.
Skills:
Extend patterns based on identified rules.
Make and justify predictions about future elements in patterns.
Sample Problem: Given the pattern 5, 10, 15, __, 25, determine the missing number and explain your reasoning.
Video Resource: Extending Patterns - An instructional video on extending patterns and making predictions.
Patterns and Relationships Among Numbers (C1.4):
Content: This section explores how patterns can illustrate relationships among whole numbers and decimal tenths.
Skills:
Create patterns to demonstrate relationships between numbers.
Describe these relationships using various mathematical representations.
Sample Problem: Create a pattern that shows the relationship between the number of sides on a polygon and the total number of triangles that can be formed within the polygon.
Video Resource: Number Patterns - A video on using patterns to explore numerical relationships.
These subsections provide a comprehensive framework for teaching Algebra in Grade 4, focusing on developing foundational skills in recognizing, creating, and using patterns to solve problems.