Often considered to be primarily procedural, operations includes the expectation that students understand the concepts of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in order to be successful with problem solving. Problem solving often requires the selection of appropriate computational or operational methods. The concepts of ratio and proportion must be understood in order to recognize and solve problems that are proportional in nature. Patterns and Functions Students use patterns and functions to develop mathematical power, appreciate the true beauty of mathematics, and construct generalizations that describe patterns simply and efficiently. The study of patterns and functions is one of the central themes of mathematics.
Patterns are a major part of mathematics study in the elementary grades.
Astudy of patterns requires the conceptual understanding of recognizing, describing, and generalizing patterns. The study of function helps the student to build mathematical models that can be used to predict the behavior of real-world phenomena that have observable patterns. The widespread occurrence of regular and chaotic pattern behavior can make a study of patterns and functions interesting and valuable. As in the key idea of mathematical reasoning, which includes looking for patterns, key idea 7 cuts across the other key ideas.