Central Nevada Educational Technology Consortium

Pascal's Triangle WebQuest
A webquest by Mike Sparrow

1-Introduction: Mathematics has been a long studied activity for many mathematicians. Many simple yet powerful tools have been discovered and investigated. One of these simple tools is Pascal's Triangle. This webquest will allow you, the student, to investigate and learn about the many patterns and uses for Pascal's Triangle.

2-Task:The class will be divided into groups of four: The Historian, The Technician, The Artist, and The Analyst Each person is responsible for their specific task but may assist in gathering and presenting the webquest ideas for the other tasks.

The Historian: The Historian will be responsible for describing the who, where, and when of Pascal's Triangle.

The Technician: The Technician should be able explain how Pascal's Triangle is created and how rows and columns in the triangle are named. The technician will be able to explain what a Pascal petal is and how to fill in a missing hexagon petal using probability combinations.

The Artist: The artist will need to investigate and explain 4 different patterns found by coloring multiples.

The Analyst: The analyst will need to explain three (3) numerical patterns found in Pascal's Triangle. The analyst may chose from the following list of patterns or may use another that is not listed:


Sums of Rows	Prime Numbers	Hockey Stick
Magic 11's	Fibonacci Sequence	Triangular Numbers
Square Numbers	Points on a Circle	Connection to Sierpinski Fractal
Binomial Coefficients	Polygonal Numbers	Probability Combinations

3-Process: Using the internet links, search engines and resources, gather the information necessary to complete the four tasks outlined above.

4-Resources:
http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/jbaer/classes/blaise/blaise.html
http://mathforum.org/workshops/usi/pascal/
http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.pascal.triangle.html
http://www.cecm.sfu.ca/organics/papers/granville/support/pascalform.html
http://ptri1.tripod.com/
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PascalsTriangle.html
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/pascal1/
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/lessons/pattern3.html
http://www.math.umass.edu/~mconnors/fractal/generate/pascal.html
http://www.krysstal.com/binomial.html

5-Evaluation As a group, you will be responsible to present your final work to the class using a created web page, Power Point presentation, or Word processor presentation. Evaluation will be based on the following rubric.

Your project (worth 100 points) will be graded using the following components:

Your use of class time
Information about the history of Pascal's Triangle
Description of Structure of Pascal's Triangle
Coloring Patterns found in Pascal's Triangle
The mathematical analyses used for the project
Your class presentation

Pascal's Triangle RUBRIC
	Poor	Acceptable	Good	Excellent
Use of Class Time	0-6 pointsWastes time, unprepared for class.	7-10 pointsWorks in class, but is unprepared for class.	11-14 pointsWorks in class, somewhat prepared for class.	15-20 pointsWorks in class, prepared for class.
History of Pascal's Triangle	0-4 pointsLittle history and/or poor presentation.	5-8 pointsHistory completed and correct. Information presented.	9-12 pointsHistory completed and correct including multiple contributors history. Good presentation.	13-15 pointsAll history completed and correct including multiple contributors history, presentation is interesting and organized.
Structure Description	0-4 pointsLittle structure info and/or poor presentation.	5-8 pointsTriangle structure completed and correct. Information presented.	9-12 pointsTriangle structure completed and correct including one method to find a pascal petal presented. Good presentation.	13-15 pointsTriangle structure completed and correct including two methods to find a pascal petal presented. Presentation is interesting and organized.
Coloring Patterns	0-4 points Little color pattern info and/or poor presentation.	5-8 points Triangle color pattern completed and correct. Information presented.	9-12 points Two triangle color patterns completed and correct. Good presentation.	13-15 points Three triangle color patterns completed and correct. Presentation is interesting and organized.
Mathematical Analysis	0-4 points Little math analysis info and/or poor presentation.	5-8 points One math analysis completed and correct. Information presented.	9-12 points Two math analysis' completed and correct. Good presentation.	13-15 points Three math analysis' completed and correct. Presentation is interesting and organized.
Group Presentation	0-6 points Little or no effort.	7-14 points Presentation is interesting. Little or no mathematical/scientific evidence to support information.	15-18 points Presentation is interesting. Mathematical/scientific evidence to support information. Thoughtful research.	19-20 points Presentation is interesting and innovative. Mathematical/scientific evidence to support information. Thoughtful research.













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