Geometry:
2.1: Inductive Reasoning
Claim: Smoking is good for you and here’s why:
Evidence: Read the following news article excerpts and answer the follow-up questions.
Beck, Laura (2013) 102-Year-Old woman quits smoking (but not for her health) Jezebel.com. Retrieved
from News Article from http://jezebel.com/5984946/102-year-old-woman-quits-smoking-but-not-for-her-health
“Happy Birthday to Clara Cowell, a 102-year-old English woman………Cowell first lit
a cigarette in 1931, and has smoked two or three a day since.”
Phillip, Abby (2014) Cigarette smoking Brazilian man may be world’s oldest person at 126 years
old. Washington Post.com. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-
health/wp/2014/07/16/cigarette-smoking-brazilian-man-may-be-worlds-oldest-person-at-126-years-old/
“All things considered, Jose Aguinelo dos Santos is a pretty lively Brazilian man.
He walks without a stick, has no known health problems, smokes a pack of
cigarettes a day, and is still a childless bachelor, according to reports. Oh, and he
might be 126 years old—the world’s oldest living person.”
Anthony, Andrew (2013) The island of long life. Thegaurdian.com. Retrieved from
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/31/ikaria-greece-longevity-secrets-age
On the Greek island of Ikaria, life is sweet… and very, very long. So what is the
locals' secret? Gregoris Tsahas has smoked a packet of cigarettes every day for 70
years… He's 100 years old and, aside from appendicitis, has never known a day of
illness in his life.
What is the basis for the conclusion that smoking is good for you?
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It is a strong basis for the conclusion? Why or why not?
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The reasoning used in the warm-up is referred to as inductive reasoning.
Vocabulary:
Inductive Reasoning:
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Conjecture: ________________________________________________________________
1. Examples of Inductive Reasoning:
Visual Patterns:
Term # 1 2 3 4 5 6
Total
number of
boxes
Make a conjecture about the number of boxes in the 100th term.
Number Patterns:
Describe a pattern in the numbers. Write the next number in the pattern.
26,23,20,17,14,...
2. Making a conjecture:
Look at the circles. What conjecture can you make about the number of regions 20 diameters
form?
3. Making a conjecture: The importance of having enough information:
a. A student claims that the next number in the pattern 1,2,4…is 8, because each number
shown is two times the previous number. Is that valid conjecture? Explain.
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b. Make a conjecture regarding the definition of supplementary angles based solely on the
examples provided:
Is the definitions based on the above examples accurate? Explain.
4. Developing a counterexample to a conjecture:
A counterexample is an example
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1. If the name of a month starts with the letter J, it is a summer month.
2. You can connect any three points to form a triangle
3. When you multiply number by 2, the product is greater than the original number.
