Utsav means festival! During festivals we see beautiful decorations — rangoli, flower garlands, and colourful lights. If you look carefully, you will notice that these decorations repeat in a regular way. That regular repeating arrangement is called a pattern.
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Key Concepts
Pattern: A pattern is something that repeats in a regular way. It can be made with colours, shapes, numbers, or objects.
Repeating Pattern: The same set of items appears again and again in the same order. For example: red, blue, red, blue, red, blue ...
Core of a Pattern: The smallest part that keeps repeating is called the core. In red-blue-red-blue, the core is red-blue.
Growing Patterns: Some patterns grow by adding the same amount each time. For example: 2, 4, 6, 8 (add 2 each time).
Patterns in Numbers: Numbers also form patterns. Counting by 2s: 2, 4, 6, 8 ... Counting by 5s: 5, 10, 15, 20 ...
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Worked Examples
What comes next? Circle, Square, Triangle, Circle, Square, ___.
The core is Circle-Square-Triangle. It repeats, so next is Triangle.
What colour comes next? Yellow, Green, Yellow, Green, Yellow, ___.
The core is Yellow-Green. Next is Green.
Find the next number: 10, 20, 30, ___, 50.
The pattern adds 10 each time. 30 + 10 = 40.
Riya is decorating a border. She places: star, flower, star, flower. Draw the 7th shape.
1-star, 2-flower, 3-star, 4-flower, 5-star, 6-flower, 7-star.
Find the missing shape: Heart, Heart, Star, Heart, Heart, ___, Heart, Heart, Star.
The core is Heart-Heart-Star. The missing shape is Star.
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Common mistakes
- Make sure to identify the full core before predicting what comes next.
- In number patterns, check whether you are adding, subtracting, or skipping numbers — do not guess.
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Summary
Patterns are all around us in festivals, nature, and numbers. Learning patterns helps us predict what comes next and understand the world in an organised way. Look for patterns everywhere — in tiles, in clothes, and even in counting!