Patterns photos

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Click on the drop-down menus below to see specific questions you can ask and math you can discuss for each of these photos.
Here are general questions you can ask about each photo:

What do you see? or, What do you notice?
How did you know?
Can you use these manipulatives to show the math in this photo?
Can you draw a picture or a diagram to show the math in this photo?
What are some different ways to solve this problem?
What math questions can you ask about this photo?

*Note that these pictures can be used to discuss ideas related to patterns, but you'll also see examples of other types of math questions, as well.

Questions to ask:

Do you see a pattern in this picture? What pattern do you see? What does this pattern remind you of?
Can you make another pattern using these two colors? (e.g., black, black, white, white, black, black, white, white or black, white, white, black, white, white, etc.)
Can you use shapes to make this same type of pattern? (e.g., triangle, rectangle, triangle, rectangle, etc.) Can you use body movements to make this same type of pattern? (e.g., clap, wave, clap, wave, etc.)
What shape do you see? Can you describe this shape? If we turn this shape like this (demonstrate 45 degree turn), will it still be a square? How do you know?
Do you see anything symmetrical in this photo? Where would you draw a line of symmetry?
Can you estimate how many columns of cement tiles there are without counting? Now let’s count to see if your estimate was correct.
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Questions to ask:

Can you find any patterns in this picture? (tall bush, short bush, tall bush, short bush) What’s the pattern?
Can you create this same pattern, using colors? (e.g., blue, green, blue, green, etc.)
Can you create this same pattern using shapes? (e.g., square, circle, square, circle, etc.)
The pattern ends with a short bush. If we wanted to continue the pattern, what would come next?
If you wanted to make a different pattern using these same tall and short bushes, what pattern could you make? (e.g., tall, short, short, tall, short, short, etc.)
How many groups of windows do you see? How many windows are in each group? How many is that in total?

Questions to ask:

Do you see any patterns in this photo? What pattern do you see?
If this pattern continued, what would come next?
Can you make this same type of pattern (ABAB) using numbers? Colors? Shapes?
What shapes do you see? What can you tell me about those shapes?
I see 3 different shapes that have 4 sides. Can you find them? What do we call each of these shapes?
How many of the flowers are yellow? What percent/fraction/ratio of the flowers are yellow? What is the ratio of yellow flowers to pink flowers?

Questions to ask:

Do you see a pattern? What can you tell me about that pattern?
If the pattern continued, what would be next?
Can you make this same type of pattern (ABAB) using numbers? Other colors? Shapes?

Questions to ask:

Do you see any patterns? What pattern do you see? (horizontal, vertical, horizontal, vertical, etc. or under, over, under, over, etc.)
Can you make this same type of pattern (ABAB) using numbers? Colors? Other shapes?
What shapes do you see? How are those shapes similar? How are they different?
Let’s make an estimate: How many small blue squares can fit into one beige rectangle? If each blue square is one square inch, what could be the area of the rectangle? What could be its perimeter?

Questions to ask:

Do you see a pattern? What can you tell me about that pattern?
If the pattern continued, what would be next?
Can you make this same type of pattern (ABAB) using numbers? Other colors? Shapes? Body movements? Sounds?

Questions to ask:

Do you see any patterns in this photo? What pattern do you see?
If this pattern continued, what would come next?
Can you make this same type of pattern (ABA, ABA, etc.) using numbers? Other colors? Shapes?
What shapes do you see? What can you tell me about those shapes? How are they similar? How are they different?
How many of the flowers are purple? What percent/fraction/ratio of the flowers are purple? What is the ratio of purple flowers to white flowers? How many purple flowers would we need to add to make this ratio 1:1?

Questions to ask:

Do you see any patterns in this photo?
What pattern do you see?
If the pattern continued, what would come next?
Can you make this same type of pattern (ABAB) using numbers? Other colors? Shapes? Sounds? Movements?

Buy the math photo books and workbooks to encourage math talks in your classroom:

"Math is Everywhere" Workbook for Grades 3 - 5

$12.99

math is everywhere photo books available on amazon

"Math is Everywhere" Picture Book for Grades 3 - 5

$12.99

"Math is Everywhere" Picture Book for Grades K - 2

$12.99

"Math is Everywhere" Workbook for Grades K - 2

$12.99