Virginia SOL 3.PFA.1.a
The Standard
Identify and describe increasing and decreasing patterns using various representations (e.g., objects, pictures, numbers, number lines).
Virginia Standards of Learning for Mathematics · The student will identify, describe, extend, and create increasing and decreasing patterns (limited to addition and subtraction of whole numbers), including those in context, using various representations.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students decide whether a pattern grows or shrinks. They describe the change between steps with an addition or subtraction rule and connect objects, pictures, numbers, and number lines.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can state that 8, 12, 16, 20 increases by adding 4 each time. The student can find the same change in a picture or on a number line.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may call any left-to-right pattern increasing, even when the values decrease. They may confuse the starting value with the amount added or subtracted. Some assume every change must be one.
How to Assess It
- Give students 24, 20, 16, 12 and a number line showing the same values. Ask them to name the direction, write the rule, and explain how the jumps prove it.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Build cube towers with 12, 9, 6, and 3 cubes, order them, then write the direction and rule.
Write how you know whether 7, 12, 17, 22 is increasing and name the change between terms.
Play Pattern Match by pairing sequence cards with rule cards such as add 5 or subtract 3.
Track books remaining after four students each borrow two, then describe the decreasing pattern with numbers and a rule.
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Printable 3.PFA.1.a Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 3.PFA.1.a, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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