Festivals in India are full of colour and pattern! During Diwali, Pongal, Onam, or Eid, we decorate our homes with lights, rangoli, garlands, and paper chains. Have you noticed that many decorations repeat a pattern? In this chapter we use festival decorations to explore patterns — repeating arrangements of shapes, colours, and objects.
What will we learn?
We will identify and extend repeating patterns, create our own patterns, and understand how patterns use shapes, colours, and sizes.
What is a pattern?
A pattern is a design or sequence that repeats in a regular way. Once you know the rule of a pattern, you can guess what comes next.
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Key Concepts
Repeating pattern: The same group of objects or shapes repeats again and again.
Example: circle, square, circle, square, ... (the rule is: circle then square, repeated).
Growing pattern: Each step adds more objects.
Example: 1 star, 2 stars, 3 stars, ... (the rule is: add 1 star each time).
Colour pattern: Colours repeat in a fixed order.
Example: red, blue, green, red, blue, green, ...
Size pattern: Sizes change in a regular way.
Example: big circle, small circle, big circle, small circle, ...
Symmetry: A shape has symmetry if one half is a mirror image of the other half. The imaginary dividing line is called the line of symmetry.
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Worked Examples
A garland goes: red flower, white flower, red flower, white flower, ... What colour is the 7th flower?
Pattern: R, W, R, W, R, W, R ... The 7th flower is red (odd positions are red).
Extend the pattern: triangle, circle, triangle, circle, ___.
Following the rule, the next shape is a triangle.
A rangoli row goes: big dot, small dot, small dot, big dot, small dot, small dot, ... What is the 9th dot?
Pattern repeats every 3: B, S, S. 9 / 3 = 3 complete cycles. The 9th element is the last of cycle 3 = small dot.
Is this a pattern? Blue, Blue, Red, Blue, Blue, Red, Blue, Blue, Red.
Yes! The rule repeats every 3: Blue, Blue, Red. It is a repeating pattern.
A butterfly has matching wings. Is it symmetrical?
Yes, a butterfly has a line of symmetry down the middle. Each wing is a mirror image of the other.
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Common mistakes
- Confusing "pattern" with just a picture. A pattern must have a repeating rule.
- Counting the pattern units wrong. Always find the repeating group first, then count.
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Summary
Festival decorations use repeating patterns of colour, shape, and size. Finding the repeating rule helps us predict what comes next. Symmetry means one half mirrors the other. Patterns and symmetry make decorations beautiful and mathematical!