Describing patterns and sequences

problem

Many Matildas

Age

11 to 14

Challenge level

MatildaMatildaMatil... What is the 1000th letter?
problem

Maxagon

Age

11 to 14

Challenge level

What's the greatest number of sides a polygon on a dotty grid could have?
problem

Even Up

Age

11 to 14

Challenge level

Consider all of the five digit numbers which we can form using only the digits 2, 4, 6 and 8. If these numbers are arranged in ascending order, what is the 512th number?
problem

Expanding Zeros

Age

11 to 14

Challenge level

Weekly Problem 22 - 2008
The following sequence continues indefinitely... Which of these integers is a multiple of 81?
problem

Getting Round the City

Age

11 to 16

In a city with a grid system of roads, how do you get from A to B?
problem

Changing Places

Age

14 to 16

Challenge level

Place a red counter in the top left corner of a 4×4 array, which is covered by 14 other smaller counters, leaving a gap in the bottom right hand corner (HOME). What is the smallest number of moves it will take to move the red counter to HOME?
article
Pattern Power

Mathematics is the study of patterns. Studying pattern is an opportunity to observe, hypothesise, experiment, discover and create.
article
Digital Roots

In this article for teachers, Bernard Bagnall describes how to find digital roots and suggests that they can be worth exploring when confronted by a sequence of numbers.
article
Pattern Sniffing

This article for primary teachers outlines how we can encourage children to create, identify, extend and explain number patterns and why being able to do so is useful.
article
Train Spotters' Paradise

Dave Hewitt suggests that there might be more to mathematics than looking at numerical results, finding patterns and generalising.