Old mathematicians never die; they just lose some of their functions. Studying sequences gives scholars an opportunity to use a new notation. Learners write functions to model arithmetic and geometric sequences and use them to find new terms. 

Concepts

geometric sequences, arithmetic sequences, number patterns, notation

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Additional Tags

math

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Instructional Ideas

• Use the practice problems as board work to find misconceptions 
• Have pairs of pupils write sequences for each other, and tell each individual to identify the type of sequence and write an equation to model it

Classroom Considerations

• Learners may find sequence notation confusing, so spend time developing the notation with several examples
• Lesson begins a series of 20 algebra lessons

Pros

• Thoroughly explains the notation related to sequences
• Pays attention to the new vocabulary pupils will need to understand the concept of sequences

Cons

• Introduces a formula early in the process, which doesn't give pupils time to develop a thorough understanding of the sequence patterns
• Refers to the explicit formulas as recursion formulas; learners may confuse this with the recursive formulas which are different

Common Core

HSF-IF.A.3 HSF-BF.A.2