The purpose of this activity is for students to show different ways 24 chairs can be arranged in an array. Students may use counters, drawings, or expressions to show the different arrays. When students model a situation using a representation such as counters or drawings, they model with mathematics (MP4).

During the Synthesis, students compare their arrays with their classmates’ and determine if they came up with all of the possibilities. During this conversation, students may discuss whether putting chairs in an array with 4 rows and 6 chairs in each row is the same as putting them in an array with 6 rows and 4 chairs in each row.

• “Share your arrays with another group. Did you represent all of the possible arrays? Did you represent the arrays in the same way?”
• Invite previously identified students to share their representations.

The purpose of this activity is for students to consider some of the different arrays they represented in the previous activity in the context of the band concert. Students think about reasons why one array might be better than another for this situation. Students determine which array they think would be best for arranging the chairs for the concert and write about their recommendation. When students think about the real-world implications of their model, they model with mathematics (MP4).

• Invite previously identified students to share.
• “Like many other real-world situations, there is not one correct way to arrange seating for a band concert. We can consider different ways and choose the one that will work best for us.”