Rocket rolls a ball into a big bowl. It rolls up one side, then back down, then up the other side.
"It keeps doing the same thing!" he says.
Raven watches closely. "What do you notice? Can you guess where it goes next?"
Nova hovers over the bowl. "When motion repeats, you can predict it," she says. "Watch for the pattern."
Some motion follows a pattern.
A pattern is something that repeats.
When we find a pattern, we can predict what happens next.
A child on a swing goes back and forth in a pattern.
A ball in a bowl rolls back and forth in a pattern.
Two children on a seesaw go up and down in a pattern.
A bike is full of motion that repeats.
Each pedal goes around and around in a circle.
Each wheel turns around and around too.
Last week we found a pattern: gear teeth predict wheel turns.
| Motion | Does it repeat in a pattern? |
|---|---|
| A pedal going around while a grown-up turns the crank | ? |
| A ball rolling back and forth in a bowl | ? |
| A book resting on a shelf | ? |
| A seesaw going up and down | ? |
| Try | Times it crossed the middle (my count) |
|---|---|
| Try 1 | |
| Try 2 | |
| Try 3 |
Perfect pattern spotting! Tomorrow we find out how far a wheel rolls in one turn.