A repeating pattern can be described completely by indicating the unit of repeat and stating the number of repetitions. Young students sometimes have difficulty identifying the unit of repeat, even in one-dimensional patterns.
Repeating patterns can be used to introduce students to many concepts in the early mathematics curriculum, especially multiplication. However, students need to be able to find the unit of repeat in each pattern.
The idea can be introduced using 'trains' of interlocking cubes arranged in a row.
These trains can be made using the following units of repeat.
The first unit is repeated three times, and the second one is repeated four times.
Students can often copy or extend such patterns without being able to find a unit of repeat. For example, students often see the first pattern as 'alternating white and green' rather than 'white-green repeated'.
If students cannot readily identify units of repeat in one-dimensional patterns, then they may not be able to grasp the multiplication that is implicit in such patterns.
