Kindergarten Students Play With Patterns: The Genesis of Functional Thinking

• In Event: Mathematics Learning in the Early Grades

Abstract

In the domain of “early algebra” mathematics educators and researchers have documented the affordance of introducing algebraic concepts to elementary students. In this study we document the experience of one Kindergarten class (ages 5 and 6) and their work with linear growing patterns. Students participated in four lessons in which the relationship between the position number and number of tiles was emphasized to foster a correspondence understanding of function (how two quantities vary in relation to each other). Observations of the lessons and pre-post task interview results indicate that very young students can develop an understanding of functional correspondence. Students made Far, and Very Far predictions when working with patterns, suggesting a preliminary understanding of relationships between two data sets.

Authors

• Ruth A. Beatty, Lakehead University

• Mary Day-Mauro, Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board