What comes next?
Strategy card
Sequences of figures follow transformations, often several at once and sometimes alternating.
- Step 1: Separate the features and track each one across the sequence.
- Step 2: Look for alternating or cycling rules, not only steady ones.
- Step 3: State the rule set, then generate the next term yourself.
- Step 4: Use elimination on the options that break any rule.
Tip: If two rules seem to fight, check whether one applies only every other step.
Worked example
Which figure comes next in the pattern?
- A: green arrow pointing up-right
- B: purple arrow pointing right
- C: green arrow pointing right (the answer)
- D: green arrow pointing up-left
- E: red arrow pointing right
Why: The arrow turns three eighths of a turn clockwise each step. The color repeats green, red, purple, again and again. So next comes the green arrow pointing right.
Your turn
Your turn 1 of 3
Which figure comes next in the pattern?
Your turn 2 of 3
Which figure comes next in the pattern?
Your turn 3 of 3
Which figure comes next in the pattern?
Keep practicing
Grown-ups: Ask how they'd explain the rule to a younger sibling. Parent guide
Next lesson: Analogies: find the link