Patterns and Expressions

Learning Goal: Demonstrate an ability to work with

various patterns and identify what is a pattern
I know I will be successful when I can:

❏ Extend a pattern
❏ Identify the term number and term value of a pattern
❏ Identify the gap(s) in a pattern
❏ Identify the initial value in a pattern
❏ Identify if a pattern is linear or non-linear based on the gap
❏ Identify the pattern rule
❏ Continue a pattern using an expression
Recall: We can write a pattern from an expression
A pattern is represented with the expression 4x - 1 where x is the term number.

Complete the table of values below for the pattern.

x-value (Term Number) y-value (Term Value)

0 4(0) - 1 = -1

1 4(1) - 1 = 3

2 4(2) - 1 = 7

3 4(3) - 1 = 11

4 4(4) - 1 = 15
Expressions
Expression: 4x - 1

x-value (Term Number) y-value (Term Value) What is the gap for the
0 -1 pattern?
1 3

2 7
4
3 11

4 15
Expressions
Expression: 5x + 2

x-value (Term Number) y-value (Term Value) What is the gap for the
0 2 pattern?
1 7

2 12
5
3 17

4 22
From the previous two examples:
Expression for pattern: Gap for pattern:
4x - 1 4
5x + 2 5

What do you notice about the Gap and the Expression?

The gap is the coefficient of the expression (it is with the

variable)
Expressions
In a Linear Pattern, the constant multiplied by the variable is the Gap of the pattern
(what the pattern increases/decreases by each time)
Expression: 3x + 1
x-value y-value
Gap: 3
0 1
1 4
2 7
3 10
4 13
 Writing Expressions
We can use this to help write expressions to represent patterns.
Step 1: Identify the Gap.
x-value y-value Gap: 4

0 0 Step 2: Determine how the gap and x-value relate

1 4 to the y-value.
x-value X Gap y-value = 0
2 8 =0x4=0

3 12 Step 3: Add or subtract a constant as needed.

4 16
None needed

Step 4: Write the expression

4x
 Writing Expressions
We can use this to help write expressions to represent patterns.
Step 1: Identify the Gap.
x-value y-value Gap: 1

0 2 Step 2: Determine how the gap and x-value relate

1 3 to the y-value.
x-value X Gap y-value = 2
2 4 =0x1=0

3 5 Step 3: Add or subtract a constant as needed.

4 6
0+2=2

Step 4: Write the expression

1x + 2
 Writing Expressions
We can use this to help write expressions to represent patterns.
Step 1: Identify the Gap.
x-value y-value Gap: 3

0 3 Step 2: Determine how the gap and x-value relate

1 6 to the y-value.
x-value X Gap y-value = 3
2 9 =0x3=0

3 12 Step 3: Add or subtract a constant as needed.

4 15
0+3=3

Step 4: Write the expression

3x + 3
Complete the Practice Questions