Any of the five senses may directly observe patterns.

That is, they observe patterns in word use, and derive part-of-speech categories themselves.

Now apply this to all five observations and observe certain patterns:

The periodic table can be used by chemists to observe patterns, and relationships between the elements.

Design from patterns to details: By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society.

The idea is to spin the disk and observe patterns like ocean waves.

The study followed 133 children from infancy through adulthood and tried to observe patterns of behavior over that period.

He and colleagues observed patterns within words and tried to explain them.

All we can do is observe and record patterns.

This last point is a familiar one, which fits in well with the remarks on observing patterns that I have discussed above.