Pattern blocks are used to form geometric patterns. Students are asked to study the patterns, use pattern blocks to extend the patterns, and make predictions based on the patterns. Just for Fun: Tower Puzzle Applet

Colored tiles are used to create geometric patterns that represent number patterns. The geometric patterns provide visual support for extending and generalizing number sequences. Just for Fun: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature

The early Greeks expressed variables geometrically as line segments. In this activity two pieces, a variable piece and a unit piece, represent a segment of arbitrary length and a unit segment, respectively. These two algebra pieces are used to represent and solve algebra story problems. Just for Fun: Algebraic Expressions Game

<a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073053708/78546/tower.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (9.0K)</a>	Elementary School Activity: Exploring Patterns with Color Tiles <a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073053708/78546/towershot.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (9.0K)</a>
The Tower Puzzle is based on the "Tower of Brahma" legend that predicted the world would vanish after 64 disks are transferred from tower to tower according to certain rules. You are challenged to transfer 15 disks, but you may wish to generalize your solution to 64 disks to solve the time required in ancient legend.

In This Chapter

Problem Solving
	Classroom Readings Interactive Math Applet Seeing and Extending Patterns with Pattern Blocks Bibliography Geometric Number Patterns with Color Tiles Bibliography Solving Story Problems with Algebra Pieces Bibliography