DescriptionThe third of 6 clips focuses on the four 11th grade students as they map the numbers of pizza choices to the rows of Pascal’s Triangle and attempt to make sense of the addition rule with the addition of each successive topping as an option for the problem: "A local pizza shop has asked us to help design a form to keep track of certain pizza choices. They offer a plain pizza that is cheese and tomato sauce. A customer can then select from the following toppings: pepper, sausage, mushrooms, and pepperoni. How many different choices for pizza does a customer have? List all the choices. Find a way to convince each other that you have accounted for all possible choices. Suppose a fifth topping, anchovies, were available. How many different choices for pizza does a customer now have? Why?" In this clip, the researcher challenges the group to explain how the addition rule of Pascal’s Triangle works to generate each successive level of the Pizza Problem. The second row in Stephanie’s drawing of Pascal's Triangle leads to debate as to whether the numbers, 1 2 1, correspond to pizza options with one or two toppings. The students agree that the correspondence works if the row: 1 2 1, refers to pizzas with two toppings. They focus on subsequent rows and try to figure out how adding the numbers for two cases in one row results in the correct number for each case in the next row and how this addition makes sense given the introduction of a new topping.
RightsThe video is protected by copyright. It is available for reviewing and use within the Video Mosaic Collaborative (VMC) portal. Please contact the Robert B. Davis Institute for Learning (RBDIL) for further information about the use of this video.
Date Captured1999-03-01
Local IdentifierA21A22-CMB-PIZZA-CLIP003
Source Title: A21, Pizza problems with four and five toppings (student view), grade 11, March 1, 1999, raw footage Identifier: A21-19990301-KNWH-SV-CLASS-GR11-CMB-PIZZA-RAW
Source Title: A22, Pizza problems with four and five toppings (work view), grade 11, March 1, 1999, raw footage Identifier: A22-19990301-KNWH-WV-CLASS-GR11-CMB-PIZZA-RAW