Unit 9 Contents

Add Three Alligator

The animals on Gzorp grow by adding squares. Each kind of animal adds squares differently. An Add Three Alligator grows like this:

It keeps growing, getting three squares larger each year. The new squares it grows each year are always a different color than the squares it grew the year before.

1. Use square-inch tiles to build a model of the Add Three Alligator up to at least age 8. As you add tiles for each year of age, record the data in a table like the one shown here.
2. Plot your data. Put A on the horizontal axis and S on the vertical axis. Scale your axes to include values up to at least A = 10 and S = 43.
3. Draw a line that goes through all of the points. Extend your line until it meets the vertical axis.
4. Think about the point where the line meets the vertical axis. What does it say about the Add Three Alligator? Does this make sense?
2. Look at your data table and graph.
1. Describe any patterns you see.
2. How can you get the next value of S without counting all the tiles? Use your graph and the patterns you found in the data table.
3. How many squares does an Add Three Alligator have at each of the ages shown below? Record the data for each age in your data table.
1. 10 years old
2. 20 years old
3. 25 years old