Lesson 25

The purpose of this How Many Do You See is for students to subitize or use grouping strategies to describe the images they see. The paper flowers also set the stage for the subsequent activities in the lesson.

• Groups of 2
• “How many paper flowers do you see? How do you see them?”
• Display image.
• 1 minute: quiet think time

• Display image.
• “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
• 1 minute: partner discussion
• Record responses.

• “These flowers are sometimes used as decorations at a quinceañera.”
• “A quinceañera is a celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday. It is celebrated most widely in Mexico, but is also celebrated in Spain and other countries throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America. It is celebrated in the US and around the world by people who have cultural ties to these regions.”
• “What are some celebrations in your family or culture? What are some decorations used in the celebrations?”
• Consider asking:
  • “Who can restate the way ___ saw the paper flowers in different words?”
  • “Did anyone see the flowers the same way but would explain it differently?”
  • “Does anyone want to add an observation to the way ____ saw the flowers?”

The purpose of this activity is for students to make paper flowers, use them to create patterns, and describe the patterns. The experience of making the flowers provides a concrete reference that will be helpful when students make sense of, solve, and create multi-step problems with the same context later in the lesson.

• Gather rubber bands or pipe cleaners and 60 sheets of tissue paper that measure 18 inches by 24 inches.
• Cut the tissue paper in the following ways (measurements do not need to be exact):
  • 20 sheets cut into strips that are 4 inches by 9 inches
  • 40 sheets cut into strips that are 6 inches by 12 inches (length should be about 2 times the width)

• Groups of 4
• Give students strips of tissue paper and rubber bands or pipe cleaners.
• “Today we are going to make paper flowers. Has anybody made this type of flower or seen them used for decorations before?”
• Demonstrate how to make a paper flower.
• “In your group, make some small and large paper flowers. Make as many paper flowers as you can in 10 minutes.”
• “As you’re working, try to keep in mind the different things you have to think about to make the flowers.”

• 10 minutes: small-group work time

• “How many flowers was your group able to make in 10 minutes?”
• Record responses on the board.
• “How many flowers did all of us make together?”
• “What were some things you had to think about when you made the flowers?” (Sample responses: The number of sheets needed, the different colors to use, the size of sheets to use, the time it took to make each flower.)
• Record the responses and leave them displayed for the following activity.

In this activity, students use the context of paper flowers to analyze patterns and solve multi-step problems. The patterns are fairly straightforward, but to use them to solve problems, students will need to represent or otherwise reason about them mathematically. Their earlier experience of making flowers supports students in making sense and visualizing each step of the problem.

• Groups of 2
• “The paper flowers are strung together to make a garland.”

• 2 minute: independent work time
• 10 minutes: partner work time
• Monitor for students who:
  • Use equations to show their thinking.
  • Organize the multi-step process

• Display student work of selected students and invite them to share.
• “What specific part of the work makes their explanation clear?”
• Consider asking:
  • “What suggestion do you have to make it clearer?”
  • “How can you revise your own work to make it more clear or organized?”

The purpose of this activity is for students to use their experience of making flowers to create their own pattern and multi-step problems.

• Groups of 2
• “You will write your own problems about making paper flowers. You can use similar ideas from the first activity, the things we listed in the last activity, or come up with new ones.”

• 5 minutes: independent work time
• 5 minutes: partner work time
• Monitor for different types of problems students write involving different operations and contexts.

• Invite previously identified students to share their problems.