Exploring Addition Patterns

Grade Levels: 3 - 5

Overview

This lesson provides students with an opportunity to learn and use addition patterns to find sums.

Objectives

• Students will use basic addition facts and place-value patterns to add greater numbers.
• Students will understand and use the Order Property of Addition and the Zero Property of Addition.

Materials

• Guided practice worksheet: Addition Patterns
• Independent practice worksheet: Practicing Addition Patterns and Properties
• Extension worksheet: Identifying Patterns
• Homework worksheet: Patterns of Additions
• Enrichment worksheet: Circus Logic
• Circus Contest
• Exploring Addition Patterns - Assessment Questions

Procedure

1. Introduce key vocabulary: addition, equal, sum, addends.
   
   
2. Review place value. Write the numbers 70, 530, 4, and 2,691 on the chalkboard in the form of a chart like the one below. Ask students to name which number is in the thousands place, hundreds place, tens place, and ones place.

Number	Thousands	Hundreds	Tens	Ones
70	0	0	7	0
530	0	5	3	0
4	0	0	0	4
2, 691	2	6	9	1

3. Have students use mental math to find each sum.

   4 + 3 = (7)

   40 + 30 = (70)

   400 + 300 = (700)

   5 + 7 = (12)

   50 + 70 = (120)

   500 + 700 = (1,200)

   9 + 4 = (13)

   90 + 40 = (130)

   900 + 400 = (1,300)

4. Discuss the patterns. Students should see the basic addition fact (4 + 3 = 7), and understand that greater sums are similar because the digits on the left are the same. Only the number of zeros to the right varies. (4 tens + 3 tens = 7 tens. 4 hundreds + 3 hundreds = 7 hundreds).
   
   
5. Distribute the guided practice worksheet: Addition Patterns and assist students as they work.
   
   
6. Have students look carefully at problems 4 and 8. Ask:
   • What is the same about the two equations? (They have the same sums.)
   • What is different? (The order of addends is different.)
   
   
7. Help students postulate the Order Property of Addition: changing the order of the addends does not change the sum. Have students look carefully at Exercises 9 and 10. Ask:
   • What would happen if you added 0 ones to 8 ones? (You would still have 8 ones.)
   • What if you added 5 ones to 0 ones? (5 ones)
   • Ask students what effect adding zero has. (None -- the sum is the same as the non-zero addend.)
   
   
   
8. Help students articulate the Property of Zero –when you add zero to any number, that number is the sum.
   • To further illustrate the use of Order Property and the Property of Zero, use the following example: Circus Contest.
   • Distribute the independent practice worksheet: Practicing Addition Patterns and Properties.

Assessment

• Have students answer the Assessment Questions to gauge their understanding of patterns and properties of addition.
• Students should be able to:
• Use addition patterns in finding sums.
• Recognize place-value patterns and know that basic addition facts can help when adding greater numbers.
• Demonstrate how to use the Order Property and the Property of Zero.

Extension

• Use the extension worksheet: Identifying Patterns, to build on the ideas presented in this lesson.
• Distribute the homework worksheet: Patterns of Addition, and have students complete it. You may want to go over the answers as part of a class discussion.
• Divide students into groups of two. Distribute the enrichment worksheet: Circus Logic, and have partners work together. Discuss the answers as a class. If time permits, challenge students to create their own logic puzzles.
• Visit Funbrain for more Math games.