Concept 4 of 5
Growing Patterns: Count the Step
Today's big idea
Turn the picture into counts
Count each box, then it's a number series.
How it works
👀 What's going on?
Someone building a tower of blocks adds the same few blocks for every new floor. By the fourth floor nobody counts the whole tower — they count what one floor costs and add it on.
💡 Here's the trick
Look at the boxes above. Each box holds a few more dots than the box before it. If you write the counts in a row — 1, 2, 3 — the picture turns into a plain number series, and you already know how to grow one of those.
- 1.Count the dots in each box, one box at a time.
- 2.Write the counts in a row and find the jump.
- 3.Add the jump one more time to get the next box.
✍️ Try it
- 1.Boxes hold 2, 4, 6 dots. How many in the next box?
- 2.Boxes hold 3, 6, 9 dots. How many in the next box? Pattern 1 adds 2 each time, so the next box holds 6 + 2 = 8 dots. Pattern 2 adds 3 each time, so the next box holds 9 + 3 = 12 dots.
⚠️ Watch out
Do not stare at one box hoping it tells you the next. It never does. The answer hides in the jump between two boxes, and you find that by counting twice.
See it in action
⚡ Time to play!
The caterpillar grows by the same amount each step. Build the next one!
0 segments
Quick check
✅ VERIFICATION
A pattern grows: , , , ? Which figure comes next?
⚡ Finish the activity above first to answer.
Keep going!
Up next: Shape Grids
Cross out what's used — the survivor fits.