Patterns & Sequences
Order and arrange combinations of mathematical objects in patterns and sequences
What a learner can do afterwards
- Continue a repeating pattern of shapes or colours
- Describe the rule for a given sequence of objects
- Create own patterns and sequences using mathematical objects
The lesson
A pattern is a group of shapes, colours or objects that repeat in a rule you can guess. Once you know the rule, you can guess what comes next.
Leo lines up beads on a string: red, blue, red, blue, red, blue. The rule is simple: red, then blue, over and over. Leo can guess the next bead without looking: blue.
To find the rule, look for the smallest group of things that keeps repeating. Say it out loud, like 'red, blue, red, blue', and the rule becomes easy to spot.
A pattern repeats by a rule, so once you spot the rule you can continue it or make your own.
Watch it
Where it sits
Learn first
This opens up
Nothing builds on it yet.
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
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.