Teacher Guide

📥 Printables

The practice worksheet pairs with Lesson 1, and the lesson plan gives you objectives, standards alignment, and a minute-by-minute flow. Generated right here; nothing is uploaded anywhere.

About this unit

Pattern Hunter builds pattern recognition — the foundation under algebra (rules and functions), data science (trends), and mathematical thinking generally. Unit 2 has four lessons; all four lessons are ready.

Everything runs in the browser. Nothing students type is sent to a server or saved online — no accounts, no privacy paperwork.

Lesson 1 — The Pattern Zoo

Goal: students distinguish repeating patterns (a looping chunk), growing patterns (a change rule), and Fibonacci (each term = sum of the previous two), and can predict the next term of each.

Answer key — Game 2 (type the next number)

• 2, 5, 8, 11, 14 → 17 (add 3)
• 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 → 96 (double)
• 1, 4, 9, 16, 25 → 36 (square numbers)
• 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 → 21 (Fibonacci)

Answer key — worksheet Part 1

• A) 19, 22 (add 3) · B) 32, 64 (double) · C) 20, 15 (subtract 5)
• D) 13, 21 (Fibonacci) · E) 36, 49 (squares) · F) stomp (repeating)

Answer key — worksheet Part 2 (safari)

• red/blue/blue → R · 3,6,9,12 → G · 2,3,5,8,13 → F · moon/star/sun → R

Look-fors: students name the rule, not just the next term ("it adds 3" beats "17"); on the safari they justify the species; the invented pattern in Part 3 has a consistent, checkable rule.

Discussion prompts: Where did you see a pattern this week outside school? · What's the difference between a repeating and a growing pattern? · Why might a scientist care about which species a pattern is?

Lesson 2 — The Cafeteria Mystery

Goal: students experience why raw data must be organized, read a frequency table to find a pattern, and use the pattern to make (and justify) a data-driven decision.

Answer key

• Most hot-lunch business → Monday (pizza, 85 of 100).
• Fish-stick day oddity → yogurt choices double (kids pick a trusted backup).
• Meatloaf prediction → about 20 of 100 (same menu → same behavior).
• Recommendation → prepare far fewer meatloaf trays.

Look-fors on the written advice: cites a number from the table as evidence ("only 20 of 100 chose hot lunch"); connects data to the decision; bonus if they suggest replacing meatloaf or predicting yogurt demand on fish day.

Discussion prompts: Why could no one see the pattern before it was organized? · What other school decisions could data like this improve? · What might make next Wednesday break the pattern?

Lesson 3 — The Number Game Challenge

Goal: students determine function rules by testing inputs, use systematic strategies (feed 0; feed 1 then 2), and express rules in words — the heart of algebraic thinking.

Answer key

• Machine BLIP → add 7 · Machine ZAPPO → multiply by 3 · Machine SNEAKY → double, then add 1. (The challenge number is chosen dynamically and always avoids inputs the student already tested.)
• Speed round: add 4 · multiply by 5 · double, then subtract 1 · cut in half.

Look-fors: clever inputs (0 exposes the added amount; 1 and 2 expose the multiplier); testing a guess before claiming victory; rules stated in words. The "BE the Rule Keeper" build makes a great pair activity.

Discussion prompts: Why is feeding 0 such a powerful move? · How is a rule machine like a pattern from Lesson 1? · Where do input→output rules show up in real life (prices, recipes, game scores)?

Lesson 4 — The Pattern Masquerade (isomorphism)

Goal: students abstract patterns to letter skeletons (A-A-B), recognize when two differently-presented patterns share a structure, and generate two representations of one structure — an informal but genuine introduction to isomorphism.

Answer key — the games

• Twins: frogs 🐸🐸🦋 ↔ X X O (A-A-B) · moon-star ↔ 1 2 1 2 (A-B) · snap-STOMP-STOMP ↔ ▲■■ (A-B-B).
• X-Ray: pizza → A-A-B · do-re-mi → A-B-C · 5 5 7 → A-A-B (twin of pizza!) · octopus-crab-crab → A-B-B.

Answer key — Party Kit

• Part 1: A-B-A-B-A-B · A-A-B-A-A-B · A-A-B-A-A-B · A-B-B-A-B-B · A-B-C-A-B-C.
• Part 2 twins: 1↔z (A-A-B) · 2↔x (A-B) · 3↔y (A-A-A-B).

Look-fors: students say "same skeleton" rather than "they look alike"; in the Costume Shop, both costumes follow the skeleton exactly. Extension for advanced students: the classic game-of-15 ↔ tic-tac-toe isomorphism (pick numbers 1–9 summing to 15 — it's secretly tic-tac-toe on a magic square).

Discussion prompts: Why does a map work even though it isn't the city? · What do sheet music and a song share? · Where else are two things "the same underneath"?

🧭 Go to the lessons