Current educational theory encourages teachers to keep student work displayed in the classroom setting. Allowing students to design and prepare a bulletin board display gives them more ownership of the classroom environment and it also brightens the atmosphere, giving students a sense that their finished work should be shared and enjoyed. Change bulletin board themes frequently and make sure student work is on display for parent-related events.
Many teacher supply stores and textbook publishers offer posters and displays of math concepts. If you are setting up a new bulletin board, you can purchase an interesting and engaging poster and post it on one part of the bulletin board, filling the other areas with examples of student work related to Pascal's triangle. For example, some very elaborate designs and math problems can be made using Pascal's triangle. Teachers can post some of the more elaborate designs created by higher-level mathematicians. Students can then be asked to make their own versions of these designs or write an explanation of the problems in their own words to be displayed alongside them.
Many activities regarding Pascal's triangle involved probability. For example, the probability of flipping a coin to either the heads or tails position is 50 percent. Students can do an investigation into probability by testing a group of six to eight coins and recording the specific number of times they land on head or tails. Chart the results as graphs and have the students prepare an exhibit detailing how this probability exercise relates to Pascal's triangle.
Coloring activities are very popular with Pascal's triangle because students can use colors to replace the number repetitions. For example, students may choose to symbolize each number value with a color and thus they can fill in the triangle with colors to create a repeating pattern. Students are likely to devise some very creative and aesthetically pleasing pieces of art, which can employ certain color tones or shades or may incorporate each of the major primary colors. All of these options would produce excellent work for colorful bulletin board displays.
The numbers in Pascal's triangle can be replaced with letters or symbols. Students can use letters to create repeating words that form the shape of the triangle. This activity can be especially enjoyable around the holidays, when students can use words related to the holiday. For example, Halloween-themed triangles may replace the numbers with words such as "pumpkin" or "ghost." Students can also use symbols such as witches, cats or skeletons. The words or phrases can be used to create a math-related, holiday-themed bulletin board that students will enjoy.