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MATHEMATICS in ourWORLD
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Nature by Numbers

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A. Patterns and Numbers in Nature
and the World

 Human mind and culture have developed a formal

system of thought for recognizing, classifying, and
exploiting patterns called Mathematics.
 By using Mathematics to organize and systematize our
ideas about patterns, we have discovered a great
secret: nature’s patterns are not just there to be admired,
they are vital clues to the rules that governs natural
processes.
A. Patterns and Numbers in Nature
and the World
We live in a universe of patterns!
1. The snowflake
2. The honeycomb
3. The sunflower
4. The snail’s shell
5. Flower’s petals
6. Weather
The Snowflakes
 The Honeycomb
Why do the cells of a honeycomb have a hexagonal
form?
The shape turns out to be economical: much honey is
enclosed by minimum beeswax.

VIDEO: click here

 Petals of flowers

FLOWERS NUMBER OF PETALS

Lilies 3
Buttercups 5
Delphiniums 8
Marigolds 13
Asters 21
Daisies 34, 55, 89
 TheSunflower
Seed patterns of sunflower

All the sunflowers in the world show a number of

spirals that are within the Fibonacci sequence.
The Snail
Cycle of Seasons
 B. The Fibonacci Sequence
Think of this!
At the beginning of a month, you are given a pair of
newborn rabbits. After a month the rabbits have produced no
offspring; however, every month thereafter, the pair of rabbits
produces another pair of rabbits. The offspring reproduce in exactly
the same manner. If none of the rabbits dies, how many pairs of
rabbits will there be at the start of each succeeding month?
At the start of 4th month, how many pairs of rabbits will there
be?
How about at the start of the 5th and 6th months?
Solution:

JOSEPH
G.
TABAN,
UNP
 Fibonacci discovered that the number of
pairs of rabbits for any month after the
first two months can be determined by
adding the numbers of pairs of rabbits in
each of the two previous months. For
instance, the number of pairs of rabbits at
the start of the sixth monthis 3 + 5 = 8.
 A recursive definition for a sequence is one in which
each successive term of the sequence is defined by
using some of the preceding terms. If we use the
mathematical notation Fn to represent the nth
Fibonacci number, then the numbers in the Fibonacci
sequence are given by the following recursive
definition.

𝐅𝟏= 𝟏, 𝐅𝟐= 𝟏, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐅𝐧= 𝐅𝐧−𝟏 + 𝐅𝐧−𝟐 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐧≥ 𝟑.

 Binet’s Formula
 The following formula is known as Binet’s formula for the
nth Fibonaccinumber.
𝐧 𝐧
𝟏 𝟏+ 𝟓 𝟏− 𝟓
𝐅𝐧= −
𝟓 𝟐 𝟐

The advantage of this formula over the recursive formula

𝐅𝐧= 𝐅𝐧−𝟏 + 𝐅𝐧−𝟐
is that you can determine the nth Fibonacci number without
finding the two preceding Fibonacci numbers.
 Exercise 1

 Use the definition of Fibonacci numbers to

find the eleventh and twelfth Fibonacci
numbers.
 Exercise 2

 Use Binet’s formula and a calculator to

find the 20th, 30th, and 40th Fibonacci
numbers.
 Fibonacci inSunflower
The seeds on a sunflower are arranged in
spirals that curve both clockwise and counterclockwise
from the center of the sunflower’s head to its outer
edge. In many sunflowers, the number of clockwise
spirals and the number of counterclockwise spirals are
consecutive Fibonacci numbers. The number of
clockwise spirals is 34 and the number of
counterclockwise spirals is 55.
 Fibonacci inPineapple
Pineapples have spirals formed by their
hexagonal nubs. The nubs on many pineapples
form 8 spirals that rotate diagonally upward to
the left and 13 spirals that rotate diagonally
upward to the right. The numbers 8 and 13 are
consecutive Fibonacci numbers.
Fibonacci inPlants
 Fibonacci inFruits
Inside the fruit of many plants we can observe
the presence of Fibonacci order.
 Fibonacci inAnimals

The shell of the chambered Nautilus

has Golden proportions. It is a
logarithmicspiral.

The eyes, fins and tail of the

dolphin fall at golden sections
along the body.

A starfish has 5 arms.

Fibonacci inHuman
C. Mathematics helpsorganize patternsand
regularities in the world
 Patterns have underlying mathematical
structures
 Every living or nonliving thing in the
world may seem to follow a certain
pattern on their own.
 The mystery of Fibonacci sequence and
the golden ratio as common patterns in
nature.
 Suggested activity for students

 Explore patterns in nature and

present them as photo album, photo
exhibit, portfolio, etc. with written
reports.
 Video- presentation
D. Mathematics helpspredictthe behavior
of nature and the world
 Mathematics help predict the location, size and
timing of natural disasters
 Made possible by the studyof fractals.

A fractal is a mathematical formula of a pattern

that repeats over a wide range of size and time scales.
These patterns are hidden within more complex
systems.
 Benoit Mandelbrot is the father of fractals, who
described how he has been using fractals to find order
within the complex systems in nature, such as the shape
of coastlines.
 E. Mathematics helpscontrol natureand
occurences in the world for our own ends

 Fractal Geometry has been applied in

different fields of knowledge such as
in engineering, computer graphics,
medicine,etc.
F.Mathematics has numerousapplications in
the world making it indispensable

 Mathematics helps you build things

 Mathematics is helpful in managing financial matters
 Many more…
 Thanks to the development of new mathematical
theories, these more elusive nature’s patterns are
beginning to reveal their secrets. Already we are
seeing practical impact as well as an intellectual
one. But most important of all, it is giving us a
deeper vision of the universe in which we live in,
and for our own place init.
 ESSAY– Short Response

1.What new ideas about Mathematics did

you learn?
2.What is it about that have changed your
thoughts about it?
3.What is it most useful about Mathematics
for humankind?
 SYNTHESIS PAPER
 Prepare a 3-page synthesis paper
focusing on one of the following aspects
of Mathematics:
a. Mathematics helps organize patterns and
regularities in the world.
b. Mathematics helps predict the behavior of
nature and phenomena in the world.
c. Mathematics helps control nature and
occurrences in the world for our ownends.
 “Learning Mathematics outside
the classroom is not enrichment,
it is at the core of empowering our
understanding of the subject.
Links need to be made between
Mathematics and real life
to give learning a sense of purpose
and a need for us students to
achieve.“
“Teachers give most consideration
to what students are actually
learning. However, it is just as
important to give thought to how
and where students learn.
Then, it is the role of teachers to
utilize places, other than the
classroom,
to stimulate, to inspire and to
enhance learning. ”
 REFERENCES
 Essential Mathematics for the Modern World by
Nocon and Nocon
 Nature’s Numbers by Ian Stewart

 Video clip: https://vimeo.com/9953368

 Mathematical Excursions (Ch. 1) by R.Aufmann

• , et al.