People LOVE Patterns

We love patterns because they help us figure out what is going on. Patterns help us identify connections, learn new content, and present our ideas in ways that are accessible to others. The natural world, language, art, music, math, and everything is pattern.

Spirals

Hurricanes, shells, galaxies, DNA, ferns, a planet’s path through spacetime, horns, beehives, spider webs, sunflowers; nature uses spirals.  The Guggenheim, stairways, stained glass windows, slinkies, notebooks, ringlets in our hair, the beginning of the yellow brick road, baskets, pots, scrolls, labyrinths, mazes, curricula; people make spirals. Golden spiral, logarithmic spirals, Archimedes, Fibonacci, Doyle spirals, spiral of Theodorus; math makes spirals. Screws, inclined planes that wrap around a central line, springs; engineers use spirals. Petroglyphs and carvings, Starry Night, Hokusai’s great wave, Klimt; spirals are a familiar motif in art.

Tessellations

Snake skin, honeycomb, puzzles,  M.C. Escher, molecules in solids, arrays, charts, grids, cobblestone streets, farmland viewed from the sky, parquet floors, brick walls, tortoise shells, tangrams, corn on the cob, bathroom tiles,

Theme and Variation

Motif and design, fractions in simplest form and equivalents,

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A Mindful Exploration of Proper Fractions

Help your students make sense of fractions.

I started teaching in 1987, which means I’ve collected many tips and tricks along the way.  In this ebook, I share concepts, strategies, and classroom materials to help you make math sticky.

Along with this useful ebook, you will receive weekly emails from StickyMath@UnCommon-Core.com. I send information like: teacher tips, educational ideas, book reviews, curated lists, reviews of educational sites, and free first drafts of products that I’m creating for my TPT store. That way, you get helpful ideas and free stuff, while I get some feedback before I finalize products and put them up for sale.

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All the best!

Isabelle

Isabelle Hoag M. Ed.