Intermediate
40 mins
Teacher/Student led
+80 XP
Teacher-led from the board. Pupils do not need a device, but can follow on one.

Missing Numbers: the Rule Finds Them

In this maths lesson, students learn to spot the jump size in skip-count patterns with gaps. They use that rule to prove exactly which number is missing by plotting jumps on a number line.

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    Number line jumps

    1 - Getting Started ~3 mins

    Illustration for Getting StartedLook: number cards pegged along a string read 2, 4, __, 8. One card blew away at break time.

    Which number blew away? How can you be so sure?

    2 - Watch and Notice ~7 mins

    We count in equal jumps. A gap is a missing number.

    Watch three patterns. Same-size jumps land on the missing number.

    Last one: counting in fives. Same idea — find how big each jump is, then land on the missing number.

    3 - Try It Together ~7 mins

    Jump size means how many we add each equal step: jumps of 2, 5 or 10.

    Key point

    Name the jump size. Make the jumps. Land on the missing number.

    Find the missing number

    4 - Write the Skip-count Lines ~2 mins

    COPYBOOK MOMENT

    In your maths copy, write these two counting lines, one under the other:

    • 2, 4, 6, 8
    • 10, 20, 30, 40
    Pupil practice
    Module 5 · Patterns and Skip Counting: 2s, 5s and 10s Algebra
    Lesson 57 · Missing Numbers: the Rule Finds Them
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