Funding for the VITAL/Ready to Teach collection was secured through the United States Department of Education under the Ready to Teach Program.
Loading StandardsStudents are introduced to several geometric shapes, patterns of geometric shapes and numbers, and patterns of beats that make up rhythms. This activity is motivated by a Cyberchase episode in which the CyberSquad must open a vault by cracking a code of shapes and numbers. The "For Real" segment of this episode introduces the rhythms that permeate the musical STOMP!
60 minutes
Crack the Code QuickTime Video
STOMP QuickTime Video
Handout: Guess the Pattern
Assessment: Level A
Assessment: Level B
Answer Key
1. Distribute Handout: Guess the Pattern.
2. Ask the students to complete the handout.
3. Tell the students they will watch a video segment about breaking a code.
4. Read the following: The CyberSquad must open a vault in Poddleville. They are racing Hacker, Buzz, and Delete to break the code. Watch the video segment and see how the CyberSquad cracks the code (without cracking the eggs/pods), and see if their solution agrees with your solution.
5. Show Crack the Code QuickTime Video.
6. Discuss the students' solutions and have the students compare their results with those in the video.
7. Read the following: Patterns are not just shapes, colors, and numbers. They can also be movement, as in a dance, and sounds, as in a rhythm. In the next video segment, watch and listen to the way the rhythms form patterns, and when Kareem starts joining, you join in, too.
8. Show STOMP QuickTime Video.
Assessment: Level A (proficiency): Students are asked to complete several simple patterns consisting of geometric shapes and numbers.
Assessment: Level B (above proficiency): Students are introduced to a number of other geometric shapes, asked to recognize more patterns, and asked to invent a pattern of their own.
Standards