Order the Changes
1 out of 3
Can you order pictures of the development of a frog from frogspawn and of a bean seed growing into a plant?
Problem
Can you order these pictures of the development of a frog from frogspawn?
And these of a bean seed growing into a plant?
You can download a copy of the frog pictures here and the bean pictures here.
We would be interested to hear not just about your final order, but how you decided upon the order.
Getting Started
If you find this difficult try using just one set of cards at first.
You could choose one card (any card) to start with. Then pick a second card. In what order do you think these two cards might go? Can you now fit a third card into the sequence?
Student Solutions
Natasha from Ricards Lodge reminds us that:
These cycles are just big circles which repeat themeselves over time, for example the life cycle of a frog starts with frogspawn, then they slowly grow into tadpoles and become fully grown frogs, this is where the cycle begins again.
The plant is exactly the same, the seed germinates and grows, creates roots and the produces seeds in which another plant grows from.
You're right, Natasha. So, this means we could start anywhere in the cycle and order the pictures from that point.
Niharika from Leicester High School for Girls drew the two cycles for us in the correct order:
Jessie from Ricards Lodge added descriptions to the order of the bean life cycle that she created. She has presented the cycle in three rows, going left to right on each, in this Word document.
Thank you to you all.
Teachers' Resources
Using NRICH Tasks Richly describes ways in which teachers and learners can work with NRICH tasks in the classroom.
Why do this problem?
Possible approach
Key questions
Possible extension
Learners could find pictures of a similar form of development over time, such as the growth of another kind of plant, for example, a tree, or even mammalian embryology, and sketch out their own set of cards.
Possible support
You might like to encourage some pairs to focus on just one set of cards. Be supportive of any children who would like to look up information to help them order the cards.