Dots and Patterns

You stamp a red dot, then a blue dot, then a red dot, then a blue dot across your paper. What kind of pattern is this?

→ This is a red-blue-red-blue pattern. The unit that repeats is red dot, blue dot. · This is the simplest kind of pattern and a great place to start.

You make a big dot, a small dot, a big dot, a small dot all the way across. Is this a pattern?

→ Yes! The unit that repeats is big dot, small dot. Size can make a pattern just like color can. · Patterns do not have to use different colors — they can use different sizes too.

You make a row of all red dots with no change at all. Is that a pattern?

→ No, a row of all-the-same dots with nothing changing is not a pattern yet. Try adding a different color or size so something repeats in order. · A pattern needs at least two different things that take turns repeating.

You want to make a red-blue-yellow pattern. You put red, blue, yellow, red, blue — what dot comes next?

→ Yellow comes next, because the unit is red-blue-yellow and it keeps repeating. · This is a three-part pattern unit, which is a little harder and great to try after you master two-part patterns.

You dip your finger in paint and make a line of dots going down the paper instead of across. Can that be a pattern?

→ Yes! Dots can go up, down, across, or in a circle. As long as the colors or sizes repeat in order, it is still a pattern.

You make red dot, red dot, blue dot, red dot, red dot, blue dot. What is the repeating unit?

→ The repeating unit is red-red-blue. Two red dots and then one blue dot make the unit that keeps going. · Patterns can have more than one of the same dot in a row inside the unit.