To encourage students to look for and identify patterns
Student Objectives:
To determine the number of rabbits produced within a walled area during
a year's time
To discover a pattern, later called the Fibonacci sequence, while problem
solving
To be able to describe that pattern and predict larger numbers
Teaching Strategies:
Lecture/Discussion
Group work
Worksheet/Pencil
Calculator
Prerequisite Information:
Basically, not much information on Fibonacci and the Fibonacci sequence
will have been told to the students. It is desired that the students discover
the pattern on their own, while problem solving, and then predict the future
numbers that will appear.
Anticipatory Set:
Discuss the problem of the rabbits. Ask the students, "How many
pairs of rabbits will there be after a year if it is assumed that every
month each pair produces one new pair, which begins to bear young two months
after its own birth?"
Materials:
Worksheets with months of the year listed
Calculators for calculating sums
Procedure:
1. Ask students the Anticipatory Set question
2. Encourage students to find the answer any way they feel comfortable.
They can draw the answer or create a chart. The drawings can quickly become
unmanageable; therefore, encourage them to look for a pattern
Assessment:
1. Students should be able to determine the number of pairs of rabbits
in the walled area after a year's time
2. Students should be able to identify a number pattern developing
from their work.
3. Students should be able to predict the next numbers after identifying
the number pattern