# Lesson 2

Describing Patterns

These materials, when encountered before Algebra 1, Unit 6, Lesson 2 support success in that lesson.

### Lesson Narrative

In this lesson, students encounter visual patterns that change in a predictable way. They identify the change as linear, exponential, or neither. (Most of the patterns encountered in this lesson are linear or exponential. There is one quadratic, but students don’t need to describe it more specifically than noticing it is neither linear nor exponential.) These patterns are similar to the ones students will see in the associated Algebra 1 lesson, except here, the work is a bit more scaffolded, and they have an opportunity to use what they know about familiar function types to describe the patterns. When students express the $$n$$th term of a pattern using a variable after figuring out several numerical values in the pattern, they are expressing regularity in repeated reasoning (MP8).

### Learning Goals

Teacher Facing

• Practice recognizing a pattern and making generalizations.

### Student Facing

• Let’s explore visual patterns.

Building On