Picture a machine on a conveyor belt. You drop a number in one end, the machine does the very same thing to it every single time, and a new number rolls out the other end. Today the machine's rule is × 3.
If we drop a 4 into this × 3 machine, what number do you think rolls out the other side?
Give five seconds of quiet think-time before any hands go up. Take two or three hands-up answers, not open call-outs.
If a pupil says 12, ask how they got it before confirming. The point is the machine does the same rule every time, so the number changes but the rule does not.
Watch a × 3 machine at work. Each number that goes in gets tripled before it comes out. Notice what happens when we drop a 0 in.
Now a different rule: this machine adds 5 to every number. The output is always a little bigger than the input, by exactly the same amount each time.
This machine does two jobs in a row. First it doubles, then it adds 1. The number has to pass through both steps before it can leave.
This time the input is a decimal. Watch what 0.5 turns into when it goes through a × 10 machine.
Walk each machine aloud, one at a time. The first two are familiar ground, so move briskly; slow right down on the last two, because the two-step rule and the decimal input are both new ideas.
Today we work through one machine together: the × 3 machine. We will feed it numbers one at a time and write each input-output pair into a table on the board. You call out the output, we check it, and we add the row.
This round is for talking it through together — pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.
Keep the rule visible at × 3. Slide an input in, ask the class to predict the output before pressing send, then add the pair to the table. Bring a few pupils up in turn to drive the machine. Watch for pupils who add 3 instead of multiplying by 3 — head it off by asking 'three lots of this number, or three more than this number?'
In your maths copy, draw a four-row input/output table for each of these four rules and fill in four pairs for that rule. Put the rule label at the top of each table.
Walk the room glancing at the rule labels and that each output matches the rule — this is whole-class copybook practice, not marking.
So far we have always known the rule and worked out the output. Now we work the other way. First we build a full table for a two-step machine, the × 2 then + 1 machine, together. Then we play detective: I will show you a pair, like input 3 gives 7, and we will try to find the rule.
Here is the catch. A + 4 machine also turns 3 into 7. So does × 2 then + 1. One pair fits both rules. To tell them apart, we send a second number through: try 5. The + 4 machine gives 9, but the × 2 then + 1 machine gives 11. Now we can see which rule really fits.
This round is guided — you drive the machine on the board and model the thinking aloud while pupils watch and answer.
Build the × 2 then + 1 table first: name both steps each time (double, then add 1). Then run the detective move on screen. Show input 3 gives 7 and ask the class for a rule that fits — collect both + 4 and × 2 then + 1. Now make the key point visible: one pair can fool us, so we send a second number to be sure. Send 5 through each rule on the board and let the class see them part company (9 versus 11). Finish with the stretch pair (input 6 gives 25): try × 4 then + 1, then test a second pair to confirm.
Now we work through these rules and complete a full table of four pairs for each one. The last rule is a two-step machine, and one round asks you to work backwards: given an input and its output, find the rule that fits.
Remember to test a second pair before you commit to a rule.
This round is the practice bank — pupils take turns at the board, check each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining.
Rounds rise in difficulty: a × 4 table, a + 7 table, a × 10 table with a decimal input, then a two-step × 2 then + 1 table, then the work-backwards stretch (input 6, output 25 — try × 4 then + 1, just as we modelled). On the stretch, hold the class to testing a second pair before committing to a rule.
If two different rules both give the same answer for input 3, what input could you try next to tell them apart?
Listen for pupils who realise one test input is not enough — a + 4 machine and a × 2 then + 1 machine both turn 3 into 7, but they part company at any other input, just as we saw on the board. Revoice a strong answer: so one pair can fool us; we need a second pair to be sure of the rule.
Next we turn this around fully: given a table of pairs with the rule hidden, we work out what the machine is doing.
Keep this brisk. Recap the three table types (one-step, two-step, decimal input) so the class hears the pattern named one more time before they move to the activity book.
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