Richard 
2/18/96 12:32:30 AM


I'm an eighth grade math/algebra teacher involved in a math reform project. One
of the problem/acitivities we are using is based on Pascal's Triangle and some of
its patterns. Do you know of some resources that might be especially adapted to
middle and highschool level use? Do you know of any on-line resources that might
help us make use of it's numerical relationships on a fairly simple basis? Thanks
or your consideration.

Richard
Richard, you're quite right that Pascal's Triangle is a veritable gold mine for identities. The problem in middle years is that students don't have the binomial theorem to help them with many of the identities. References are usually are at least the high school level. Locally we see some work with triangular numbers in middle years but not much else. I don't know of any on-line resource.

One book that I've used with fairly talented upper level high school students is MATHEMATICS OF CHOICE (How to count without counting) by Ivan Niven --Math Assoc. of America,1965, ISBN-0-88385-615-8.

If you look on our Math-Central site you will see a brief article there by Penny Nom on her approach to permutations and combinations, the Binomial Theorem and its relations to the coefficients (and hence Pascal's Triangle). I think she has a few suggested problems that are interesting.

Our web site is in its infancy but might I suggest that you subscribe to the teacher talk part of it and repeat your question there? It may be that some other subscriber has a good reference for you.

Also, I would invite you to share any resources you do find with us - possibly something to put in our site's Resource Room?

Regards

Denis

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