Concept Building:

What You Need to Know

Learning Outcomes

1. Identified patterns in nature and regularities in the world.

2. Articulated the importance of mathematics in one’s life.
3. Argued about the nature of mathematics, what it is, how it is expressed,
represented, and used.
4. Expressed appreciation for mathematics as a human endeavor.

Lesson 1- MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD

Nature of Mathematics
Mathematics is a study of patterns, a language, an art, a process of thinking,
and a set of problem-solving tools (Nocon and Nocon, 2018). Mathematics is defined
by Merriam Webster Dictionary as the science of numbers and any various
mathematical or logical processes of deriving an entity from others according to rule,
interrelations, combination, generalizations, and abstractions and of space
configurations and their structure, measurement, and transformations.
In this section, we will focus on mathematics as a study of patterns and
numbers in nature, particularly symmetry, trees, fractals, spirals, chaos, waves, flow,
foams, tessellations, cracks, spots and stripes, auditory patterns and number pattern
like the Fibonacci. Further, we will discuss other roles of mathematics in our world,
how it organizes patterns and regularities in the world, how it predicts the behavior
of nature and phenomena in the world, how it control nature and occurrences in the
world for our own ends, and that it has numerous applications in the world making it
indispensable.

1.1 PATTERNS AND NUMBERS IN NATURE AND THE WORLD

A Pattern is a design that is repeated regularly in a predictable manner.

1.1.1 SYMMETRY
Symmetry is seen in living things and non-living things. Most animals have
bilateral or mirror symmetry, just like leaves of plants and some flowers such as
orchids. Plants often have radial or rotational symmetry like many flowers and some
groups of animals such as sea anemones. Fivefold symmetry is found in the
echinoderms that includes starfish, sea urchins, and sea lilies.
Among non-living things, snowflakes have six-fold symmetry; crystals can be
cubic or octahedral, but true crystals cannot have fivefold symmetry; rotational
symmetry is found in the crown-shaped splash pattern formed when a drop falls into

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a pond or water, and the spheroidal shape and rings of a planet like Saturn. Symmetry
abounds in biology, floral symmetry, and crystal symmetry. Examples are given below.

Garnet showing rhombic Echinoderms like this starfish Fivefold symmetry can be seen
dodecahedral crystal habit have fivefold symmetry in many flowers and some fruits
like this medlar

Snowflakes have sixfold Fluorite showing cubic crystal Water splash approximates
symmetry. habit radial symmetry

Tiger, Bilateral symmetry Volvox has spherical symmetry Sea anemones have rotational
symmetry
(Source: Wikipedia, Patterns in nature)

A Symmetry is a rigid motion of geometric figure characterized by the property

of remaining invariant or unchanged.
The four main types of symmetry operations are translation, rotation,
reflection, and glide reflection.
A Translation is a transformation of coordinates in which the new axes are
parallel to the old ones. (An isometry which is a shift of some specified direction and
distance)
A Rotation is an isometry, determined by a center and an angle.
A Reflection (line symmetry or mirror symmetry) is an isometry specified by a
line of reflection. A butterfly’s wings are an example of mirrored symmetry.
A Glide-reflection is the composition of a reflection and a translation, where
the translation is parallel to the line of reflection. It is the product of a reflection and
a translation along the line of reflection. Example of it is footprints.
A Motif is the original design element that is repeated.

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(Source: http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~math5337/Symmetry/sym.1.1.5.html)

1.1.2 TREES, FRACTALS

The branching pattern of trees was described in the Italian Renaissance by
Leonardo da Vinci. He stated that: All the branches of a tree at every stage of its height
when put together are equal in thickness to the trunk [below them].
Fractals are infinitely self-similar, iterated mathematical constructs having
fractal dimension. Examples are the leaves of ferns and umbellifers, corals, bryozoa.
Fractal-like patterns occur widely in nature, in phenomena as diverse as clouds,
river networks, geologic fault lines, mountains, coastlines, animal coloration,
snowflakes, crystals, blood vessel branching, actin cytoskeleton, and ocean waves.

The growth patterns of certain Trees: Lichtenberg figure: high Leaf of cow parsley, Anthriscus
trees resemble these voltage dielectric breakdown in sylvestris, is 2- or 3-pinnate,
Lindenmayer system fractals. an acrylic polymer block not infinite

Fractal spirals: Romanesco Angelica flowerhead, a sphere Branching pattern of a

broccoli (self-similar) made of spheres (self-similar) baobab tree

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 Trees: dendritic copper crystals Malunggay leaves (Horse Lindenmeyer
(in microscope) radish) brsibayoc brsibayoc
(Source: Wikipedia, Patterns in nature)

1.1.3 SPIRALS (r = aeθ cot b)

Spirals are common in plants and in some animals, like mollusks. Plant spirals
can be seen in phyllotaxis, the arrangement of leaves on a stem , and in the
arrangement of other parts as in composite flower heads and seed heads like the
sunflower or fruit structures like the pineapple and snake fruit, as well as in the pattern
of scales in pine cones, where multiple spirals run both clockwise and anticlockwise

Spiralling shell of Trochoidea Water droplets fly off a wet, Multiple Fibonacci spirals: red
liebetruti spinning ball in equiangular cabbage in cross section
spirals

Phyllotaxis of spiral aloe, Aloe Nautilus shell's logarithmic Fermat's spiral: seed head of
polyphylla growth spiral sunflower, Helianthus annuus

Bighorn sheep, Ovis Fibonacci spiral Ferns

canadensis

Sayote tops (brsibayoc) Bitter gourd tops (brsibayoc) Squash tops (brsibayoc)
(Source: Wikipedia, Patterns in nature)

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The types of Spirals

Archimedean Spiral, r = aθ Hyperbolic Spiral, r = a/θ Fermat’s Spiral, r = θ1/2

Logarithmic Spiral, r = θ-1/2 Lituus Spiral, r = a + bθ Cornu, r2 = a2 θ

(Source: Wikipedia, Patterns in nature)

1.1.4 CHAOS, FLOW, MEANDERS

In mathematics, a dynamical system is chaotic if it is highly sensitive to initial
conditions, which requires the mathematical properties of topological mixing and
dense periodic orbits.
Vortex streets are zigzagging patterns of whirling vortices created by the
unsteady separation of flow of a fluid, most often air or water, over obstructing
objects. Smooth (laminar) flow starts to break up when the size of the obstruction or
the velocity of the flow become large enough compared to the viscosity of the fluid.
Meanders are sinuous bends in rivers or other channels, which form as a fluid,
most often water, flows around bends. As soon as the path is slightly curved, the size
and curvature of each loop increases as helical flow drags material like sand and gravel
across the river to the inside of the bend. The outside of the loop is left clean and
unprotected, so erosion accelerates, further increasing the meandering in a powerful
positive feedback loop.

Chaos: shell of gastropod Meanders: symmetrical brain Meanders: dramatic meander

mollusc the cloth of gold cone, coral, Diploria strigosa scars and oxbow lakes in the
Conus textile, resembles Rule broad flood plain of the Rio
30 cellular automaton Negro, seen from space

Meanders: sinuous snake Chaos: vortex street of clouds Meanders: sinuous path of Rio
crawling Cauto, Cuba
(Source: Wikipedia, Patterns in nature)

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1.1.5 WAVES, DUNES
Waves are disturbances that carry energy as they move. Mechanical waves
propagate through a medium – air or water, making it oscillate as they pass by. Wind
waves are sea surface waves that create the characteristic chaotic pattern of any large
body of water. Barchans or crescent dunes are produced by wind acting on desert sand
and behave like solitary waves.

Wind ripples with dislocations in Dunes: sand dunes in Dunes: barchan crescent sand
Sistan, Afghanistan Taklamakan desert, from space dune

Waves: breaking wave in a ship's Fir waves in White Mountains, Waves

wake New Hampshire
(Source: Wikipedia, Patterns in nature)

1.1.6 BUBBLES, FOAMS

A soap bubble forms a sphere and a foam is a mass of bubbles. Foam patterns
are common in living cells; radiolarians, sponge spicules, silicoflagellate exoskeletons
and the calcite skeleton of a sea urchin, Cidaris rugosa, all resemble mineral casts of
Plateau foam boundaries.

Foam of soap bubbles: four Brochosomes (secretory Beijing's National Aquatics

edges meet at each vertex, at microparticles produced by Center for the 2008 Olympic
angles close to 109.5°, as in leafhoppers) often approximate games has a Weaire–Phelan
two C-H bonds in methane. fullerene geometry structure.

Haeckel's Spumellaria; the Buckminsterfullerene C60: Radiolaria drawn by Haeckel in

skeletons of these Radiolaria Richard Smalley and colleagues his Kunstformen der
have foam-like forms. synthesized the fullerene Natur (1904).
molecule in 1985.

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 Circus tent approximates a minimal surface. Equal spheres (gas bubbles) in a surface foam
(Source: Wikipedia, Patterns in nature)

1.1.7 TESSELLATIONS
Tessellations are patterns formed by repeating tiles all over a flat surface which
is common in arts and designs, exactly repeating tiling are less easy to find in living
things. The cells in the paper nests of social wasps, and the wax cells in honeycomb
built by honey bees are well-known examples. Among animals, bony fish, reptiles or
the pangolin, or fruits like the salak are protected by overlapping scales or
osteoderms. Among flowers, the snake's head fritillary, Fritillaria meleagris, have a
tessellated chequerboard pattern on their petals. The structures of minerals provide
good examples of regularly repeating three-dimensional arrays.

Tilings: overlapping scales of Bismuth hopper crystal illustrating

snakefruit or salak, Salacca the stairstep crystal habit.
zalacca

Tilings: tessellated flower of Crystals: cube-shaped Tessellated pavement: a rare rock

snake's head fritillary, Fritillaria crystals of halite (rock formation on the Tasman
meleagris salt); cubic crystal Peninsula
system, isometric
hexoctahedral crystal
symmetry

Tilings: overlapping scales of Arrays: honeycomb is a natural

common roach, Rutilus rutilus tessellation
(Source: Wikipedia, Patterns in nature)

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1.1.8 CRACKS
Cracks are linear openings that form in materials to relieve stress for example
dried mud, bark of trees. Since each species of tree has its own structure at the levels
of cell and of molecules, each has its own pattern of splitting in its bark.

Cooled basalt at Giant's Drying inelastic mud in the Patterned ground: a melting
Causeway. Vertical mainly 120° Rann of Kutch with mainly 90° pingo with surrounding ice
cracks giving hexagonal cracks wedge polygons near
columns Tuktoyaktuk, Canada

Drying elastic mud in Sicily Old pottery surface, white Palm trunk with branching
with mainly 120° cracks glaze with mainly 90° cracks vertical cracks (and horizontal
leaf scars)

Tree Barks Veined gabbro with 90° cracks,

near Sgurr na Stri, Skye
(Source: Wikipedia, Patterns in nature)

1.1.9 SPOTS, STRIPES

Leopards and ladybirds are spotted; angelfish and zebras are striped. These
patterns have an evolutionary explanation: they have functions which increase the
chances that the offspring of the patterned animal will survive to reproduce. One
function of animal patterns is camouflage; another function is signaling.

Array of ladybirds by G.G. Breeding pattern Royalangelfish, Pygoplites

Jacobson of cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis diacanthus

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 Cheetah Jaguar spot Tiger stripes

Leopard, Panthera Helmeted guineafowl, Numida Dirce beauty butterfly,

pardus pardus meleagris, feathers transition Colobura dirce
from barred to spotted, both in-
feather and across the bird

Cats Aerial view of a tiger bush Grevy's zebra, Equus grevyi

stripes plateau in Niger
(Sources: Wikipedia, Patterns in nature)

1.1.10 AUDITORY PATTERN (Music)

Using a new mathematical methodology, researchers at MIT have created a
scientifically rigorous analogy that shows the similarities between the physical
structure of spider silk and the sonic structure of a melody, proving that the structure
of each relates to its function in an equivalent way.
The step-by-step comparison begins with the primary building blocks of each
item — an amino acid and a sound wave — and moves up to the level of a beta sheet
nanocomposite (the secondary structure of a protein consisting of repeated
hierarchical patterns) and a musical riff (a repeated pattern of notes or chords). The
study explains that structural patterns are directly related to the functional properties
of lightweight strength in the spider silk and, in the riff, sonic tension that creates an
emotional response in the listener.

(Source: https://news.mit.edu/2011/silk-music-proteins-1208)

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1.2 FIBONACCI NUMBERS

The Fibonacci sequence is named after Leonardo of Pisa or Leonardo Fibonacci.

He first introduced the Fibonacci sequence in his book Liber Abaci in the year 1202.
The Fibonacci numbers are the integer sequence: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89,
144, 233, 377, 610, 987, … The Fibonacci numbers is evident in nature.

Fibonacci’s rabbits
This was about how fast rabbits could breed in ideal circumstances. Supposing
a newly-born pair of rabbits, one male, one female, are put in a field. Rabbits never
die and are able to mate at the age of one month so that at the end of its second
month a female can produce another pair of rabbits and for the next month and so
on. This breeding pattern will produce the Fibonacci numbers.

(Source:http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-sites/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibnat.html)

Fibonacci Numbers and Plant

(Source:http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-sites/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibnat.html)

The "sneezewort": Achillea ptarmica, shows the Fibonacci numbers in the

number of "growing points" that it has. It puts out a new shoot, that shoot has to grow
two months before it is strong enough to support branching. Then it branches every
month after that.

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Fibonacci in Flowers, Fruit, Vegetables and Leaves
Number of petals is a Fibonacci number: lilies and iris have 3 petals;
buttercups, wild rose, larkspur, columbine (aquilegia), have 5 petals; some
delphiniums have 8; corn marigolds, ragwort, cineraria, some daisies have 13 petals;
black-eyed susan, chicory, some asters have 21 whereas daisies can be found with 34,
55 or even 89 petals; plantain, pyrethrum with 34; michaelmas daisies, the asteraceae
family can have 55 or 89.
Here is a passion flower (passiflora incarnata) from the back and front:

Back view: the 3 sepals that protected Front view: the two sets of 5 green petals are
the bud are outermost, then 5 outer green outermost, with an array of purple-and-white
petals followed by an inner layer of 5 more stamens; in the centre are 5 greenish stamens (T-
paler green petals shaped) and uppermost in the cent are 3 deep brown
carpels and style branches)
(Source:http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-sites/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibnat.html)

Fibonacci numbers can also be seen in the arrangement of seeds on flower

heads. The poppy seed head has 13 ridges on top. The coneflower, Echinacea purpura
, from the daisy family has 55 spirals as you go outwards and 34 spirals towards the
center. Some sunflower has 89 and 55 spirals at the edge. The pine cones show the
Fibonacci Spirals as well. The cauliflower and broccoli’s florets are organized in spirals
around this center in both directions.
The arrangements of the leaves around their stem shows the Fibonacci
numbers. If we look down on a plant, the leaves are often arranged so that leaves
above do not hide leaves below. This means that each gets a good share of the sunlight
and catches the most rain to channel down to the roots as it runs down the leaf to the
stem. Example is the African violet type of plant and the sunflower with many leaves.

African Violet Sunflower

(Source:http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-sites/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibnat.html)

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1.3 MATHEMATICS HELPS ORGANIZE PATTERNS AND REGULARITIES IN THE WORLD

Mathematics has helped organize patterns and consistencies in the world

because one must know that there is always mathematics in almost everything in this
world. An example is an arrangement or grouping that repeats. You can watch designs
- things like hues, shapes, activities, or different arrangements that repeat- all over.
Consider words or tunes in tunes, lines and bends on structures, or even in the market
where boxes and containers of different things are arranged.
The clock’s numbers are arranged consecutively in a circle; the seats or chairs
in amphitheaters are arranged in rows where the rows have consecutive letters and
the seats are numbered consecutively, odd numbers on one side, even numbers on
the other side; the buildings are numbered outward from the center, with odd
numbers on one side of each street, even numbers opposite; floors are numbered
consecutively from ground level up, and basements are numbered downward; and
rooms in the buildings are numbered consecutively along the corridors, with odd
numbers on one side and even numbers opposite which all show mathematical
pattern.
Patterns in nature can be visible in flowers, plants, waves, shells and even parts
of the human body. This is how Mathematics organize patterns around us.

1.4 MATHEMATICS HELPS PREDICT THE BEHAVIOR OF NATURE AND THE WORLD

Predicting the size, location, and timing of natural hazards is virtually

impossible, but because of the help of Mathematics we are able to forecast calamities
such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, and landslides
etc. Using mathematical tools, we create models which correspond to what we can
measure and observe in the world of reality.
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the
conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. Human beings have
attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia and formally since the 19th
century.
Mathematicians play an important role in this process, working with a set of
equations that describe the atmosphere, taking into account temperature, pressure
and humidity. Global Circulation Models (GCMs) describe the interactions between
oceans and atmosphere to look at what the average conditions could be in decades to
come.

The Tools used by meteorologists to forecast the weather

Meteorologists at NOAA’s National Weather Service have always monitored
the conditions of the atmosphere that impact the weather, but over time the
equipment they use has changed. As technology advanced, our scientists began to use
more efficient equipment to collect and use additional data. These technological
advances enable our meteorologists to make better predictions faster than ever
before.

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Doppler radar
Doppler Radar is the meteorologist’s window into observing severe storms.
With 159 radar towers across the United States, NOAA’s National Weather Service has
comprehensive coverage of the continental U.S. and partial coverage of Alaska,
Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam. Doppler radar detects all types of precipitation, the
rotation of thunderstorm clouds, airborne tornado debris, and wind strength and
direction.

Satellite data
Weather Satellites monitor Earth from space, collecting observational data our
scientists analyze. NOAA operates three types of weather satellites. Polar orbiting
satellites orbit the Earth close to the surface, taking six or seven detailed images a day.
Geostationary satellites stay over the same location on Earth high above the surface
taking images of the entire Earth as frequently as every 30 seconds. Deep space
satellites face the sun to monitor powerful solar storms and space weather. NOAA also
uses data from satellites operated by other agencies and countries.

Radiosondes
Radiosondes are our primary source of upper-air data. At least twice per day,
radiosondes are tied to weather balloons and are launched in 92 locations across the
United States. In its two-hour trip, the radiosonde floats to the upper stratosphere
where it collects and sends back data every second about air pressure, temperature,
relative humidity, wind speed and wind direction. During severe weather, we usually
launch weather balloons more frequently to collect additional data about the storm
environment.

Automated surface-observing systems

ASOS (Automated Surface Observing Systems) constantly monitor weather
conditions on the Earth’s surface. More than 900 stations across the U.S. report data
about sky conditions, surface visibility, precipitation, temperature and wind up to 12
times an hour. Nearly 10,000 volunteer NWS Cooperative Observers collect and
provide us additional temperature, snowfall and rainfall data. The observational data
our ASOS and volunteers collect are essential for improving forecasts and warnings.

Supercomputers
NOAA’s Weather and Climate Operational Supercomputer System (WCOSS) is
the backbone of modern forecasting. With 5.78 petaflop computing capacity it can
process quadrillions of calculations per second. Our supercomputers are almost 6
million times more powerful than your average desktop computer. Observational data
collected by doppler radar, radiosondes, weather satellites, buoys and other
instruments are fed into computerized NWS numerical forecast models. The models
use equations, along with new and past weather data, to provide forecast guidance to
our meteorologists.

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AWIPS
AWIPS (NOAA’s Advanced Weather Information Processing System) is a
computer processing system that combines data from all the previous tools into a
graphical interface that our forecasters use to analyze data and prepare and issue
forecasts, watches, warnings. This system uses NOAA supercomputers to process data
from doppler radar, radiosondes, weather satellites, ASOS, and other sources using
models and forecast guidance products. After meteorologists prepare the forecasts,
AWIPS generates weather graphics and hazardous weather watches and warnings. All
this helps our meteorologists create more accurate forecasts and faster than ever
before.
The occurrences of lunar and solar eclipses and the return of comets can be
predicted by observing the motion or movements of heavenly bodies. The positions
of the sun and the moon relative to the earth will predict tides which was modelled
by the sine function.
Mathematical modelling can predict and represent real world situations. It can
almost predict anything, population growth, unemployment, underemployment,
death rates, birth rates and even the spread of a certain disease, and so on and so
forth.

1.5 MATHEMATICS HELPS CONTROL NATURE AND OCCURRENCES IN THE WORLD

FOR OUR OWN ENDS.

It is almost impossible to control nature, but mathematics can help understand

why nature is such a powerful force, and how things develop and form there is the
Fibonacci sequence that show how things increase in numbers in nature, such as the
number petals on a flower or the coils on a shell. The understanding of these can help
us make small changes in specific organisms, but nature cannot be controlled.
Mathematics can help us control nature and occurrences in the world for our own
good through mathematical modelling. By mathematical modeling we see the inputs
to events and their most likely outcomes. Knowing these inputs and seeing their
consequences and establishing their relationship defined quantitatively, we can
prepare for untoward consequences, or better yet, maybe we can stop them from
happening.
Mathematics is like a bridge, between the reality and imagination. You can
understand anything systematically with mathematics. Mathematics is like the
translator of mother Nature everything in the universe can be translated and can be
understood by the language of mathematics. As it is a bridge, you can connect the
reality of the nature to your imagination. Without mathematics it is difficult to
understand the laws of these universe. It can connect you with everything thus, you
can use it indirectly to control the nature.

Epidemiology
Epidemiological statisticians work on projects such as calculating cancer
incidence rates or the rates of chronic and infectious diseases, monitoring and
reporting on disease outbreaks, and monitoring changes in health-related behaviors

17
such as smoking and physical activity. Fields of practice include nutritional,
environmental, genetic, and social epidemiology, as well as pharmacoepidemiology.

Public Health
Public health statisticians work on preventing disease, prolonging life, and
promoting health through organized community activities. These include sanitation,
control of contagious infections, hygiene education, early diagnosis and preventive
treatment, and adequate living standards. This field requires understanding of
epidemiology, nutrition, antiseptic practices, and social sciences. In many developed
countries, public health is studied and coordinated on a national level by a
government agency, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the
United States and internationally by the World Health Organization.

Pharmacology
Statisticians in pharmacology work in pharmaceuticals, animal health, and
government research. They are key to all aspects of drug discovery, development,
approval, and marketing. They work in preclinical research, clinical trials,
epidemiology, health economics, and market research. Statisticians are essential in
the drug development process because they ensure the validity and accuracy of
findings at all stages of the process.

Genetics
Statistics has been used in human genetics to create automated methods of
labeling possible indicators of genetic abnormalities, such as birth defects and early
aging. Statistics also has been used in animal and plant genetics to breed desirable
characteristics in offspring. Using complex statistical models, statisticians help
formulate sound decisions by distinguishing between environmental and genetic
effects.
Some scientific procedures like laser hair removal, prevents future hair from
growing; Genetic engineering, produces perfect genes and so on; we change our skin
color; even height can be controlled.

1.6 MATHEMATICS HAS NUMEROUS APPLICATIONS IN THE WORLD MAKING IT

INDISPENSABLE.

Symmetry has a variety of causes. Radial symmetry suits organisms like sea
anemones whose adults do not move: food and threats may arrive from any direction.
But animals that move in one direction necessarily have upper and lower sides, head
and tail ends, and therefore a left and a right. The head becomes specialized with a
mouth and sense organs (cephalization), and the body becomes bilaterally symmetric
(though internal organs need not be). More puzzling is the reason for the fivefold
(pentaradiate) symmetry of the echinoderms. Early echinoderms were bilaterally
symmetrical, as their larvae still are. Sumrall and Wray argue that the loss of the old
symmetry had both developmental and ecological causes.
On trees, a parent branch splits into two or more child branches, the surface
areas of the child branches add up to that of the parent branch. An equivalent

18
formulation is that if a parent branch splits into two child branches, then the cross-
sectional diameters of the parent and the two child branches form a right-angled
triangle. One explanation is that this allows trees to better withstand high winds.
Simulations of biomechanical models agree with the rule.
From the point of view of physics, spirals are lowest-energy configurations
which emerge spontaneously through self-organizing processes in dynamic systems.
From the point of view of chemistry, a spiral can be generated by a reaction-diffusion
process, involving both activation and inhibition. Phyllotaxis is controlled by proteins
that manipulate the concentration of the plant hormone auxin, which activates
meristem growth, alongside other mechanisms to control the relative angle of buds
around the stem. From a biological perspective, arranging leaves as far apart as
possible in any given space is favored by natural selection as it maximizes access to
resources, especially sunlight for photosynthesis.
The Stripes and spots patterns have an evolutionary explanation: they have
functions which increase the chances that the offspring of the patterned animal will
survive to reproduce. One function of animal patterns is camouflage; for instance, a
leopard that is harder to see catches more prey. Another function is signaling; for
instance, a ladybird is less likely to be attacked by predatory birds that hunt by sight,
if it has bold warning colors, and is also distastefully bitter or poisonous, or mimics
other distasteful insects. A young bird may see a warning patterned insect like a
ladybird and try to eat it, but it will only do this once; very soon it will spit out the
bitter insect; the other ladybirds in the area will remain undisturbed. The young
leopards and ladybirds, inheriting genes that somehow create spots, survive. But while
these evolutionary and functional arguments explain why these animals need their
patterns.
Mathematics allows us to create more advanced technology every day that
make discoveries in medicine, architecture, and even space travel possible. Modeling
these areas allows for their respective scientists to plan for the future by learning from
the past to ensure the present is always moving forward.

Basin, S. L. The Fibonacci Sequence as it appears in Nature. Fibonacci Quarterly, vol 1 (1963), pages 53
- 57.
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