Mathematics
Intermediate
40 mins
Teacher/Student led
Learning Goals
Learning Outcomes
Lesson Files
+80 XP
What you need:
IWB/Projector/Large Screen

Growing Patterns: Predict the Next Ones

Explore growing patterns where each stage increases by the same amount. Build stages, identify the step, and use it to predict stages you have not constructed.

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    1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

    Illustration for Getting StartedLook at this little staircase. The first stair is made of just 1 square. The second stair takes 3 squares. The third stair takes 5 squares.

    Key point

    Here is the question for today, before we work anything out: how many squares do you think the next stair would need? Have a good guess, and be ready to say why you think so.

    👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

    +5 XP

    2 - Watch and Notice ~11 mins

    Watch as I build each pattern one stage at a time. Don't look for a rule yet — just tell me what you notice each time a new stage appears. Watch how much bigger each stage is than the one before.

    👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

    +10 XP

    3 - Try It Together ~7 mins

    Today we work through this growing pattern together on the number line: the counts are 2, 4, 6 so far. We will mark each count as a jump along the line, then mark where the next count belongs.

    Key point

    Each jump should be exactly the same size. Let's check ours stays the same all the way along, and then predict where the next count lands.

    Mark the growing pattern

    +15 XP

    4 - Draw the Pattern in Your Copy ~3 mins

    COPYBOOK MOMENT

    In your maths copy, draw the first three stages of a pattern that grows by 2 each time. Start with 2 squares, then 4, then 6.

    Then write how many pieces stage 4 would have, even though you have not drawn it yet.

    +10 XP

    5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

    Today we work through these growing patterns on the number line. The line is already marked with the counts so far, and your job is to drag the marker to where the next count should land. Remember: every jump is the same size.

    Predict the next count

    +15 XP

    6 - What Did We Notice? ~3 mins

    MATHS TALK

    When you knew the step, what could you work out without building or drawing anything? Tell me how knowing the step is like a shortcut. Why is it quicker to use the step than to count every square one by one?

    +10 XP

    7 - What's Next ~2 mins

    What we learned today

    • In a growing pattern, each stage gets bigger by the same amount — the step.
    • Once you know the step, you can predict a stage you have not even built yet.
    • Equal jumps along the number line show the step staying the same.
    Coming up

    Next we look at repeating patterns of shape and colour, and how finding the part that repeats lets us say what comes much further along.

    +5 XP
    Pupil practice
    Module 10 · Algebra: Patterns, Rules and Number Sentences Algebra
    Lesson 117 · Growing Patterns: Predict the Next Ones
    Download Activity Book page (PDF)
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