Bonus Patterns: Counting by Fives and Counting by Twos

Here is where this shows up in real life. Clock faces count by fives around the edge. Nickels count by fives in your hand. The pattern is worth knowing cold. This is worth learning because fives and twos show up on clocks, coins, and in fair sharing. Watch for it today, and when you spot it, tell someone what you noticed and how you knew.

Here is something worth knowing today. Other jumps have patterns too. Count by fives: five, ten, fifteen, twenty. The ones digit switches back and forth between five and zero. Count by twos: two, four, six, eight, ten.

Those are the even numbers, the ones that split fairly in half. Both patterns show up constantly, on clocks, in nickels, and in pairs of shoes. Learning them now saves you effort for years.

Try both patterns on a hundred chart. Color every fifth number one color and every second number another. Patterns you can see are patterns you remember, and this chart will show you several at once. Practice this a few times and it will start to feel easy.