Patterns and Functions

Activity 5: The Twin’s Towers

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3.Now have students generate this sequence on their TI-73s.

[ b \ Y b

4.Working in groups of two, have students use their TI-73s to answer the following questions.

How many blocks do you need for a 27-level tower? (29)

How many blocks do you need for a 53-level tower? (55)

A ___-level tower has 27 blocks? (25) A ___-level tower has 53 blocks? (51)

Activity—Part B

1.Now the twins build the following towers. Have students build them, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1-story tower

2-story tower

3-story tower

2.Ask students how they would enter this scenario into the TI-73.

Z b \ Z b

3.Have students answer the following questions.

How many blocks do you need for an 8-story tower? A ____-story tower has 28 blocks.

How many blocks do you need for a 53-story tower?

A ____-story tower has 27 blocks.

Up to this point, students have been counting the number of times they press b. To make it easier to see which term of the sequence they are on, they can create a counter that will keep track for them.

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