Spotting Patterns
Spot patterns and recurring structures — in numbers, words, nature, sounds, or events — and use them to make sense of new information
What a learner can do afterwards
- Spot a pattern in a set of numbers, shapes, or facts without being told to look for one
- Use a pattern they noticed to make a prediction — e.g. 'The next one should be 16 because it's doubling each time'
- Explain the pattern they found and why they think it works
1 · Read
A pattern is something that repeats, or changes the same way every time. Look at 2, 4, 6, 8. Each number is 2 more than the one before it. That's the rule of the pattern: add 2 each time.
Mia lines up her shells: red, blue, red, blue, red. She notices the colors keep swapping. So she guesses the next shell is blue, and she's right.
When you see a pattern, ask yourself: what stays the same, and what changes? That question helps you find the rule. Once you know the rule, you can guess what comes next.
A pattern follows a rule, so once you spot the rule, you can guess what comes next and explain why.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
This opens up
Where this leads
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.