One of the amazing things about mathematics is that you can find examples of mathematical patterns in nature. Whether it's the number of petals in different layers on a flower, the number of ridges on the leaves of a fern plant, or even the sizes of sections in a swirl-shaped shell, patterns are everywhere you look! Try to spot as many as you can the next time you go out for a walk!
A sequence is a series of numbers that have an order and have a specific pattern in the order. Getting from one number to the next can be thought of as a step, and the simplest pattern is where we add or subtract the same amount in each step. Let's take a look at the examples below:
To find the next number that follows in a sequence, it's as simple as finding the pattern and applying to the last number. For example, the next number in the decreasing sequence would be $5-3=2$5−3=2.
Find the next number in the sequence:
$7$7, $9$9, $11$11, $13$13, $\editable{}$
Find the next number in the sequence:
$-50$−50 | $-45$−45 | $-40$−40 | $-35$−35 | $\editable{}$ |