1st Grade Patterns Practice: Questions, Answers and Tips
Looking for 1st grade patterns practice? Below are worked examples, the mistakes students make most, and practice questions with an answer key.
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Looking for 1st grade patterns practice? Below are worked examples, the mistakes students make most, and practice questions with an answer key.
Every example below comes from BAMS Academy's Patterns practice, the same questions students answer on the site.
Patterns in 1st grade, skill by skill
Recognizing and extending repeating and growing patterns. BAMS Academy breaks the unit into the skills below (part of all 1st grade math topics). Each comes with one of its practice questions.
Find the next term in a numeric pattern
What comes next in this pattern: 13, 12, 11, 10, __?
Answer: 9. Each term decreases by 1: 10 − 1 = 9.
Fill in the missing number: 4, 6, __, 10, 12.
Answer: 8. Each term increases by 2, so the missing term is 6 + 2 = 8.
Find the number of items in the next figure of a growing visual pattern
A pattern of blocks grows like this: Figure 1 has 3 blocks, Figure 2 has __ blocks, Figure 3 has 5 blocks, Figure 4 has 6 blocks. How many blocks does Figure 2 have?
Answer: 4. Each figure adds 1 blocks: 3 + 1 = 4.
A pattern of blocks grows like this: Figure 1 has 1 blocks, Figure 2 has __ blocks, Figure 3 has 5 blocks, Figure 4 has 7 blocks. How many blocks does Figure 2 have?
Answer: 3. Each figure adds 2 blocks: 1 + 2 = 3.
Determine which item comes next in a repeating (ABAB or ABCABC) pattern
What comes next in this repeating pattern: square, circle, square, circle, square, __? (Choices: triangle; circle; square.)
Answer: circle. The pattern alternates: square, circle, square, circle, square, so the next one is circle.
What comes next in this repeating pattern: triangle, square, triangle, square, triangle, __? (Choices: circle; triangle; square.)
Answer: square. The pattern alternates: triangle, square, triangle, square, triangle, so the next one is square.
Worked examples
Example 1
Question: Fill in the missing number: 5, 8, __, 14, 17.
How to solve it: Each term increases by 3, so the missing term is 8 + 3 = 11.
Answer: 11
Example 2
Question: Fill in the missing number: 1, 4, __, 10, 13.
How to solve it: Each term increases by 3, so the missing term is 4 + 3 = 7.
Answer: 7
Common mistakes to watch for
- A student who picks "7" usually repeated the last term instead of continuing the pattern.
- A student who picks "17" usually used a different step size than the actual pattern.
- A student who picks "square" usually repeated shape A instead of continuing the alternating pattern.
- A student who picks "circle" usually picked the shape that is not part of this pattern at all.
Try these practice questions
What comes next in this pattern: 4, 5, 6, 7, __?
- 7
- 9
- 6
- 8
What comes next in this pattern: 19, 16, 13, 10, __?
Fill in the missing number: 1, 3, __, 7, 9.
What comes next in this pattern: 2, 5, 8, 11, __?
- 17
- 14
- 11
- 13
Answer key
- 8 — Each term increases by 1: 7 + 1 = 8.
- 7 — Each term decreases by 3: 10 − 3 = 7.
- 5 — Each term increases by 2, so the missing term is 3 + 2 = 5.
- 14 — Each term increases by 3: 11 + 3 = 14.
Keep practicing
The fastest way to build confidence is a few questions at a time, with feedback on each answer. Start with Patterns practice for grade 1, where every question comes with a step-by-step explanation.
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