📚 Unit Plans → 🌍 Y7/8 Introduction to Algebra — Te Tātai Tauira → 📄 Game: Pattern Dominoes
Years 7–10 Pāngarau / Mathematics

Game: Pattern Dominoes

A printable game for matching sequences.

How to Play

  1. Print this page and cut out the dominoes.
  2. In small groups, shuffle the dominoes and deal them out.
  3. The player with the "START" domino places it on the table.
  4. Players take turns matching the sequence on one end of a domino to the correct starting number on another. For example, if a domino ends with "..., 8, 10, 12", the next player must play a domino that starts with "14, 16, ...".
  5. The first player to use all their dominoes wins.
START
2, 4, 6, ...
..., 8, 10
5, 10, 15, ...
..., 20, 25
10, 20, 30, ...
..., 40, 50
100, 90, 80, ...
..., 70, 60
1, 3, 5, ...
..., 7, 9
3, 6, 9, ...
..., 12, 15
2, 6, 18, ...
..., 54, 162
END

Curriculum alignment

  • Place and Environment: Understand how people view and use places differently.
  • Number — Practices: - Multiplying whole numbers by fractions, including by improper fractions, by mixed numbers, and by first converting to an improper fraction - Multiplying fractions and repres…
  • Measurement — Practices: - Multiplying whole numbers by fractions, including by improper fractions, by mixed numbers, and by first converting to an improper fraction - Multiplying fractions and repres…
  • Statistics — Practices: - Multiplying whole numbers by fractions, including by improper fractions, by mixed numbers, and by first converting to an improper fraction - Multiplying fractions and repres…
  • Algebra — Practices: - Multiplying whole numbers by fractions, including by improper fractions, by mixed numbers, and by first converting to an improper fraction - Multiplying fractions and repres…

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions

Students will develop algebraic thinking and pattern recognition (tātai tauira) through te ao Māori contexts, connecting mathematical reasoning to cultural and real-world problem-solving in Aotearoa.

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

  • ✅ Students can identify, describe, and extend patterns using algebraic notation.
  • ✅ Students can explain their mathematical reasoning and connect it to real-world contexts.

Differentiation & Inclusion

Scaffold support: Provide concrete materials and visual representations before moving to abstract notation. Offer entry-level tasks using number patterns, and extension challenges involving proof or generalisation for capable learners.

ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key mathematical vocabulary (variable, expression, equation, pattern). Allow diagrams and tables as alternate representations. Bilingual glossaries recommended.

Inclusion: Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured step-by-step templates and multiple representations (visual, numeric, algebraic). Avoid time pressure on procedural tasks.

🌿 Mātauranga Māori Lens

Tātai (to reckon, count, calculate) reflects the deep mathematical tradition within te ao Māori — from whakapapa genealogy structures to wharenui proportional geometry, navigation, and seasonal calendars. Mātauranga Māori holds rich pattern-based thinking: tukutuku panel sequences, kōwhaiwhai scroll patterns, and fishing seasonal cycles all encode algebraic relationships. Algebra taught through these lenses makes abstract thinking visible and culturally grounded.