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Patterns and Sequences: Age 14-16

This is part of our Secondary Curriculum collection of favourite rich tasks arranged by topic.

Painted Cube

Age 14 to 16

Challenge Level Yellow star

Imagine a large cube made from small red cubes being dropped into a pot of yellow paint. How many of the small cubes will have yellow paint on their faces?

Double Trouble

Age 14 to 16

Challenge Level Yellow star

Simple additions can lead to intriguing results...

Slick Summing

Age 14 to 16

Challenge Level Yellow star

Watch the video to see how Charlie works out the sum. Can you adapt his method?

A Little Light Thinking

Age 14 to 16

Challenge Level Yellow star

Here is a machine with four coloured lights. Can you make two lights switch on at once? Three lights? All four lights?

Steel Cables

Age 14 to 16

Challenge Level Yellow star

Some students have been working out the number of strands needed for different sizes of cable. Can you make sense of their solutions?

Attractive Tablecloths

Age 14 to 16

Challenge Level Yellow star

Charlie likes tablecloths that use as many colours as possible, but insists that his tablecloths have some symmetry. Can you work out how many colours he needs for different tablecloth designs?

Mystic Rose

Age 14 to 16

Challenge Level Yellow star

Use the animation to help you work out how many lines are needed to draw mystic roses of different sizes.

Partly Painted Cube

Age 14 to 16

Challenge Level Yellow star

Jo made a cube from some smaller cubes, painted some of the faces of the large cube, and then took it apart again. 45 small cubes had no paint on them at all. How many small cubes did Jo use?