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Lesson · Grade 6 · Mathematics

Finding the rule from a table

  • Grade 6
  • Mathematics
  • 1 min 6 s
  • British Columbia
  • BC6-MA-25

A table of values (n = 1 to 5, terms 5, 8, 11, 14, 17) goes up by 3 each time. A 3n column placed beside it shows that every term is 2 more, which gives the rule Term = 3n + 2. The rule is checked on the row n = 4 (3 × 4 + 2 = 14) and then used to find the term for n = 10, which is 32, ending on the recap: multiply by the change, then add or subtract to match.

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In one sentence

The question this lesson answers

Here is a table of values, with a term for each n.

What rule turns each n into its term?

Transcript

What the lesson says

Here is a table of values, with a term for each n.

What rule turns each n into its term?

First, look at how the terms change from row to row.

Each term is 3 more than the one before.

Going up by 3 means we compare the terms with 3 times n.

3 times n gives the 3 times table: 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15.

Each term is 2 more than 3 times n.

So the rule is 3 times n, plus 2.

Let us check the rule with n equals 4.

3 times 4 is 12, plus 2 is 14, just like the table.

Now the rule can find any term, even for n equals 10.

3 times 10 is 30, plus 2 is 32.

Multiply n by the change, then add or subtract to match the table.

Curriculum

Where this fits

British Columbia, Grade 6

Mathematics, Patterns and algebra: increasing and decreasing patterns, using expressions, tables, and graphs as functional relationshipsBC6-MA-25

Previous: From a pattern to a table of valuesNext: Graphing a Pattern as Points

British Columbia, Grade 7

Mathematics, Patterns and algebra: discrete linear relations, using expressions, tables, and graphsBC7-MA-35

Previous: From a pattern to a table of valuesNext: Evaluating an Expression by Substitution

This lesson is also listed in Grade 7.

The outcomes and strands follow the British Columbia curriculum.

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