Number Patterns
Primary 1 · Mathematics
Number Patterns
Lesson 1 of 4
10 min
Let's begin
Keza sits on a mat outside her house.
She puts a bottle cap down. Then a stone. Then a cap. Then a stone.
Her small brother looks at the line. What comes next? Today you will know.
A pattern is a part that comes again and again.
Look at Keza's line:
| cap | stone | cap | stone | cap | ? |
Say it out loud: cap, stone, cap, stone, cap.
Can you hear it? The part that repeats is cap, stone.
A cap is down. So a stone comes next.
Careful! Some children say cap. They just copied the last thing they saw. Say the whole line out loud first.
Do it in two steps every time.
Step 1 Say the line out loud, slowly.
Step 2 Listen for the place where it starts again.
Worked example
big, small, small, big, small, small, big.
Say it: big, small, small... big, small, small.
It starts again at big. So the part that repeats is big, small, small.
The line ends on big. Next comes small.
You can make a pattern with colour. Red bean, white bean, red bean, white bean.
You can make one with size. Long stick, short stick, long stick, short stick.
You can make one with shape. Round stone, flat stone, round stone, flat stone.
You can make one with your body. Clap, stamp, clap, stamp.
Now count Keza's caps. Cap 1. Cap 2. Cap 3.
The caps make a picture pattern. The numbers under them make a number pattern.
A number pattern also has a part that comes again and again. It is the same jump, over and over.
You will meet those numbers in the next lesson.
Tip
Say it out loud, then say it again
Your ears find the pattern before your eyes do.
When the line starts again, stop. That is the part that repeats.
Watch: what comes next in the pattern?
Do each one, then tap Show answer to check.
stone, cap, stone, cap, stone, ___
Answer: a cap. The part that repeats is stone, cap.
red, red, white, red, red, ___
Answer: white. The part that repeats is red, red, white.
How long is the repeating part in clap, stamp, clap, stamp?
Answer: 2. The part is clap, stamp.
long, short, long, short, long, ___
Answer: short. A long stick is down, so a short one comes next.
Take 6 beans and 6 bottle caps. Lay your own pattern on the floor.
Answer: any line that repeats works. Ask someone to say what comes next.
What you learned today
Quick check
clap, stamp, clap, stamp, clap, ___
