Goals
Thinking about square numbers as actual squares
Comparing the differences in area of the squares
What To Do
Define what a square number is
Ask the class to calculate the first 10 square numbers
calculate the difference between consecutive square numbers
Try to find a pattern - notice the difference in numbers gets 2 bigger each time
Draw the square on squared paper and find a 'proof' that a square number = (n-1)th square number + 2n - 1
Try and calculate the difference of some large consecutive square numbers using this rule.
Homework
Background Info