PatternMaster<\/a>\u00a0(now playable\u00a0via web\/tablet!) lets students make discoveries<\/em> about\u00a0how things work<\/em>\u00a0using the Scientific Method. To quote the NGSS ‘Crosscutting concepts’:<\/p>\n 1. Patterns. Observed patterns of forms and events guide organization and classification, and they prompt questions about relationships and the factors that influence them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n The term ‘problem solving’ omits some critical distinctions. Partly this arises in Math class–a ‘problem’ is\u00a0anything where we recognize parallels, plug in different values to the\u00a0equation, and turn the crank. In science classes, if we don’t move beyond this paradigm\u00a0‘solving problems’ can turn into performing mechanical tasks.<\/p>\n I want to make a distinction between ‘discovery’ elements and ‘calculation’ elements. A sudoku table is a engaging bit of\u00a0calculation<\/em>. Once you\u00a0discover<\/em>\u00a0a set of algorithms for identifying the next vulnerable element, you\u00a0can comfortably calculate<\/em>\u00a0through hundreds of specific instances<\/em> of sudoku puzzle. After a few rounds, the discovery of sudoku is over; calculation reigns supreme. New ideas and insights are not required.<\/p>\n But exciting, cutting edge science is about recognizing\u00a0an underlying order, breaking new ground, boldly going, etc. This often arises from either discerning heretofore undetected patterns, or recognizing the failure\u00a0of patterns previously thought universal.<\/p>\n Examples are everywhere<\/a>. The periodicities folded into the Periodic Table<\/a> of the elements were whispering to us about electrons and orbitals, and shouting about an mathematical patterns\u00a0at the foundation of\u00a0chemistry. The geographic distribution<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0of sickle cell allele (HbS) prevalence and incidence of malaria provides the key clue to why the disease is common in certain populations. The planet Neptune’s<\/a>\u00a0very existence\u00a0was inferred from perturbations in the orbit of Uranus. A cholera epidemic<\/a> in England was tracked to an infected water source through John Snow’s mapping the addresses of affected individuals.<\/p>\n In each of these cases, the key insight was that there existed\u00a0something to be discovered<\/em>, and the clue was seeing the patterns in the data. A favorite quote of mine associated with phenomenon comes from Albert von Szent-Gyorgyi:<\/p>\n Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n How, then, can we\u00a0give students a valid challenge in discovering patterns as part of their problem solving toolset? This is the goal of PatternMaster, in which the student seeks\u00a0to discover a relationship between the colors, symbols and positions of a circular group of ‘cards’.<\/p>\n Since the only elements in play are geometric shapes, positions in a circle, and colors, everyone is immediately ready to play. There is no complex biological system to master; the focus and\u00a0thinking<\/em> is all about generating and testing hypotheses. Cards can be moved within the Pattern in order to test hypotheses about who is making whom ‘happy’ and whether a given card can substitute for another within the pattern.<\/p>\n A little introspection reveals that the number of patterns is limited only by the cleverness of the author (your suggestions for additional Patterns welcome!). The rules vary by level; ‘Basic’ puzzles are about one-to-one relationships–e.g. the color of one element on a card is identical to the color of some element on an adjacent card. Things get interesting on the Medium and Hard puzzles (and a ‘silly’ category is\u00a0in the making \ud83d\ude42 ). Any relationships between the elements is fair game, so long as it is<\/p>\n What makes PatternMaster<\/a> (potentially) fun is\u00a0the\u00a0number of problem solving strategies available for\u00a0discovery. Problem solving involves iterative application of the Scientific Approach–form a hypothesis, generate a prediction, apply a test, and modify or reject the hypothesis. I think it’s a compelling example of the Scientific Approach in action… The ‘legitimate’ problem is\u00a0figuring out the Rules of the Game rather than adding\u00a0details about\u00a0a known\u00a0system.<\/p>\n Petals around the Rose<\/a>, a challenging and engaging ‘one time’ pattern challenge<\/p>\n Bongard problems<\/a>, similar basics in a\u00a0static 4-card format<\/p>\n\n
Recognizing patterns in science<\/h3>\n
PatternMaster<\/h3>\n
![\"Problem](\"https:\/\/www.thinkbio.guru\/tBioWordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/pMasterCard.jpg\")
\nA PatternMaster\u00a0‘card’. Each card consists of a main shape containing a top, left, and right inner shape. Each shape is colored; the main one has both a perimeter and a fill color. There is also a central symbol, which can be either a letter or a number. The ‘frowny face’ indicator means that this card is ‘unhappy’\u00a0with some aspect of one of its neighbors.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
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