Pattern Problems

Pat­terns are every­where. When our chil­dren are lit­tle we give them blocks named pat­tern blocks even and help them cre­ate pat­terns. In sewing we use a pat­tern to guide us in the process of mak­ing a beau­ti­ful piece of cloth­ing. Fol­low­ing a pat­tern involves a very spe­cif­ic skill, one that takes prac­tice. Dis­cov­er­ing a pat­tern and defin­ing it are the next steps in the process. When we see the truths revealed behind the pat­tern by using it to pre­dict the future some­thing inside of us should feel con­nect­ed with God. We are dis­cov­er­ing Him and see­ing His char­ac­ter and glo­ry in the pat­terns before us. Try this. 

1. First, can you see why the sum of the angles in a tri­an­gle is 180 degrees? If not, then for now, just take my word for it. 
2. Sec­ond, using the fact that the sum of the angles in a tri­an­gle = 180, can you find the sum of the angles in a trape­zoid? pen­ta­gon? hexa­gon? octa­gon? decagon? 
3. Third, can you see the pat­tern that is cre­at­ed between the num­ber of sides of a poly­gon and the sum of the angles? 
4. Fourth, can you describe this pat­tern in a way that is true for all polygons? 

This is how math­e­mat­i­cal prop­er­ties are cre­at­ed. Some brave soul jumped down the rab­bit hole of pat­terns and emerged vic­to­ri­ous with a bit of truth!