Lesson 5 Math: The Art of Nature

Math in Nature Fibonacci Numbers

Have you ever pulled the petals off of a daisy? If

Introduction you look closely at the center of a daisy, you will

Fibonacci numbers are an interesting mathematical find that the yellow center is not solid. It is made up

idea. Although not normally taught in the school of sets of spirals that go out from the center. It’s

curriculum, particularly in lower grades, the not just daisies! Nature is all about math.

frequentness of their appearance in nature and the

ease of understanding them makes them an excellent Look at the pictures of a pinecone. It has those

principle to study. same kinds of spirals. They don’t go around and

around in a circle — they go out like fireworks. Look

at the pictures below to see what that looks like.

Learning Objectives
How many spirals go in the clockwise direction
After completing the lessons in this unit, students
(green lines)? How many spirals go in a
will be able to:
counter-clockwise direction (yellow lines)? Isn’t that
• Explain Fibonacci numbers and their origin.
strange? Wouldn’t you expect that they would be the
• Identify Fibonacci numbers in nature and art.
same?
• Generate the next numbers in the Fibonacci

sequence.

• Create an original number sequence.

• Create a Fibonacci rectangle and spiral.

To understand the spirals in pinecones, pineapples,

Preparation daisies and lots of other things in nature, we have to

• Read through the lessons carefully. meet a mathematician named Leonardo de Pisa.

• Gather materials. Most people call him Fibonacci. About 800 years ago,

• Print the lessons with a color printer. he wrote a book in which he included a math

problem that went like this:

 A certain man put a pair of rabbits in a place Flowers
surrounded by a wall. How many pairs of rabbits
Look at this flower. How many petals does it have?

can be produced from that pair in a year if it is Do you see six? Are you thinking that six is not a

supposed that every month each pair generates a

Fibonacci number? Look more closely. Do you see

new pair which from the second month on becomes

that there are really two sets of three petals? The

productive? outside petals with the straight edges are not really

petals. They’re called sepals. So how many actual

Isn’t it interesting that they had these problems 800
petals are there?

years ago? Fibonacci’s work on this problem led him Not all flowers have three petals. Some have lots

to this sequence of numbers:

more. Some are hard to count because there are so

many petals or they are in rows. And there are a

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144 … few flowers that don’t have Fibonacci numbers for

Can you figure out what the next number in the

petals. See if you can find a drawing of a daisy. Are

sequence will be? We call this the Fibonacci

the petals a Fibonacci number?

sequence, and the numbers are called Fibonacci

Seed Heads
numbers. To get the next number in the sequence,
The seed heads of flowers are in Fibonacci
you add the previous two numbers together. Now go
sequence spirals like you saw in the pinecones. Look
back and look at those pinecone spirals. What do
at the seed head of this sunflower. Do you see how
you notice about the number of spirals in each
packed in the seeds are? But none of them gets
direction, now that you know about Fibonacci
smashed. The spiral pattern lets the flower fit the
numbers?
most seed heads in the least space. How do you

think you could use this information in your life? Do

Finding Fibonacci
you think it would work to try to pack a travel bag

Now that you know what Fibonacci numbers are,

like this? Why or why not?

you’re ready to go on a Fibonacci hunt.

Food

Look at this picture of a purple cauliflower. If you

look carefully, you can see the center of it where the

little flowers begin. Can you see the spiraling? Nature

is full of Fibonacci numbers and the Fibonacci

sequence.
Working with Fibonacci What size square should you add next? Do it!

The interesting thing about making rectangles like

Materials

large piece of paper, graph paper, ruler, compass, this is that the ratio (the number that shows how

the sides relate to each other) stays the same, no

colored pencils

matter how big the rectangle gets. This ratio gives

Fibonacci Rectangles
us rectangles we call the “Golden Rectangle” because
Let’s draw some rectangles using Fibonacci numbers.
they are said to be the most beautiful rectangles to
This will take us to an amazing place. Complete the
look at.
Fibonacci sequence below:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, ___ , ___ , ___ , ___ ,

The ratio is called the Golden Ratio. You can find it
Great! You’re ready to start. First, we’re going to do
by dividing the long side by the short side. So if
an easy one using graph paper.
you have a rectangle that is 3×5, you would divide 5
1. Start by coloring in one square. This is a 1×1
by 3. This will give us a number right around 1.61.
square because it is one length on each side.
Can you find some Golden Rectangles around you?
Now add another 1×1 square next to it using a
Now you are going to create a Golden Rectangle
different colored pencil, so it looks like this:
on your own and see something really amazing!

1. First, draw two squares side by side. Use your

2. Now add a 2×2 square so it looks like this: ruler to make them 0.5 cm square.

2. Now make a 2×2 square on top of the first

square. So if the first square was 0.5 cm, the 2×2

square would be 1 cm square, right?

3. Now add a 3×3 square:
3. Continue this pattern, making each square the

next size in the Fibonacci sequence. So after the

2×2 square, you would make a 3×3 square (1.5

4. Now add a 5×5 square. Can you do it? cm×1.5 cm), then a 5x5 (2.5 cm×2.5 cm), and so

5. Now look at the Fibonacci sequence you wrote on. This is just like what you did with the graph

down at the top of the page. paper, only using a ruler. Keep going until you

have made a square that is 21×21 (10.5 cm×10.5

cm).
4. Each square will have an edge that is the sum of

the two squares before it, just like in the

Fibonacci sequence.

5. See the figure below to find out how it should

look. The last one is not done yet. Can you see

where it would go?

Now we’re going to get really tricky. Are you with

me? Get your compass. Now, with your compass,

make an arc in the squares with a radius the size of

the edge of the square. Don’t get nervous about

these big words; they just mean that the arc will be

one-quarter of a circle. The arcs in the first squares

will be really, really tiny. But look how they grow!

Schema-activating Reading [Reading 2] Subway Simplification

[Reading 1] To Add Up All the Numbers London’s subway system is as expanding as the city
from 1 to 100
it serves. Drawing the system on a map made it
There was a boy in a class studying math. One day
difficult for users to follow. Planning a trip with it
his math teacher presented a challenging
was about as easy as finding one’s way into and out
mathematical problem to the class: To add up all the
of a maze — and more difficult if the trip involved
numbers from 1 to 100. Every student picked up a
changing trains.
piece of paper and started to add up the numbers
In 1931, map maker Henry C. Beck found a solution,
one after another. Within a short span of time, this
which led to the London underground map so widely
boy went forward to the teacher and submitted his
used today. Beck’s proposal for a user-friendly
answer. His answer was correct! How did he do that
subway map was to abandon the idea that it should
so fast? He discovered that by adding 1+100, he got
be a literal representation of how the lines ran
101. By adding 2+99, he got 101 again. This answer
underground. Instead, it should show which vertices
of 101 was still valid for the rest of the number
(subway stations) are connected by edges
pairs. And since there were 50 pairs of numbers, the
(underground routes). Beck knew that two graphs are
final total was 101×50 which gave him an answer of
equivalent if they have the same number of vertices
5050. The boy’s name was Carl Friedrich Gauss
connected to each other in the same way. The
(1777–1855).
important information was the relationship between

the stations. The shapes of the edges were

unimportant. For simplicity, Beck used horizontal,

vertical, and diagonal lines to represent edges. He

also extended the central, most complex, part of the

system in relation to the simple parts at the suburbs.

In 1933, a few experimental copies of the simplified

graph that modeled the underground system were

printed. They were an immediate success.

[Reading 3] Abuses of Statistics in the Real
World
Knowing how statistics are calculated can help you

analyze questionable statistics. For instance, you are

interviewing for a sales position and the company

reports that the average yearly commission earned by

the five people in its sales force is $60,000. This is a

misleading statement if it is based on four

commissions of $25,000 and one of $200,000. The

median would more accurately describe the yearly

commission, but the company used the mean

because it is a greater amount.

Statistical graphs can also be misleading. Compare

the two time series charts at the right, which show

the year-end stock prices for the Procter & Gamble

Corporation. The data are the same for each chart.

The first time series chart, however, has a cropped

vertical axis, which makes it appear that the stock

price increased greatly from 2005 to 2007, decreased

greatly from 2007 to 2009, and then increased

greatly from 2009 to 2012. In the second time series

chart, the scale on the vertical axis begins at zero.

This time series chart correctly shows that the stock

price changed modestly during this time period.

Extended Reading 1

What Use Is Math in Studying? Medicine

The mathematical skills of problem solving, logical As a medical student, you take courses in statistics

so you can critically interpret data, such as the

thinking, and investigation will help your progress in

results of medical trials. Without these skills, doctors

whatever you choose to study. In addition to these

general skills, you will need math for learning in a can’t judge the reliability of tests and assess the risks

of treatments. Math is also used in medical research,

wide range of areas — anything from plumbing to
and assists in modeling diseases, interpreting medical
economics.

scans, and planning treatments.

Plumbing

Nursing
Training as a plumber can lead to a profitable and

fulfilling career, and an understanding of math is To qualify as a nurse you must be able to

demonstrate a high level of math skills. When it

essential. Aspiring plumbers must learn how to

comes to measuring and administering treatments,

calculate pipe lengths and manipulate equations for

heating and ventilation, so without mathematical skills knowing how to accurately manipulate numbers and

calculate volumes could save lives.

you won’t get very far!

Engineering Archaeology

Math even crops up in science that takes place

Engineering courses of all types use math. If you

outside the lab — e.g., archaeology. Although you

study civil engineering, you will calculate the forces

affecting bridges and buildings to make sure they might spend most of your time in the field,

archaeologists use math to analyze data from their

stay standing. Or perhaps you’d prefer aircraft

surveys and to distinguish patterns of past human

engineering, using differential equations to design

aircraft. Whatever branch you study, math is at the behavior.

heart of the engineer’s tool set.

Economics

Studying economics requires you to handle data

and work with figures. You also need to understand

economic equations and use math to calculate things

like compound interest. The problems of the global

credit crisis in 2008 were partly caused by people

who didn’t understand the basic math of economics!

And more!

These are just some of the areas that math can

help you study. And of course, if you want to go on

to study the subject of mathematics itself, all the

work you have done so far will be put to good use.

Extended Reading 2 Now, the reason for the first two wins is clear: rock

Rock-Paper-Scissors and Lizards breaks the scissors, scissors cut the paper. But why

Playing games is an essential part of the human does paper beat the rock? A sheet of paper isn’t

much protection against someone throwing a rock at

experience. Games are a safe way of exploring

you. But it may be that this convention goes back to

real-life situations, allowing us to develop ways of

predicting how, given certain rules, events will unfold ancient China, in the days when a petition to the

king was symbolized by a rock. The king would

and to plan accordingly. They teach us about
indicate whether he’d accepted the petition by
chances and unpredictability, which play such

essential parts in nature’s game of life. placing a piece of paper above or below the rock. If

the rock was covered by the paper, the petition was

refused and the petitioner defeated.

From ancient civilizations all around the world, we

have a fascinating selection of games: stones thrown

The origins of this game are hard to trace. There is

in the sand, sticks tossed in the air, coins placed in

evidence that it was played in the Far East and by

holes carved into wooden blocks, hands used to

compete, and pictures drawn on cards. From ancient Celtic tribes, and even possibly as far back as the

ancient Egyptians, who used to play finger games.

Mancala to Monopoly, from the game of go to the

However, all these cultures seem to have been

poker tables of Vegas, games are invariably won by

whoever is best at taking a mathematical, analytical beaten to the discovery by a group of lizards that

have been playing the game in the fight for survival

approach.

long before human beings were making fists.

Jan-ken-pon in Japan, ro-sham-bo in California,

kai-bai-bo in Korea, and ching-chong-cha in South

Africa — the game of rock-paper-scissors is played all

around the world. The rules are very simple: on a

count of three, each player makes his or her hand

into one of three shapes: a fist for a rock, a flat

hand for paper, or two fingers in a V for scissors.

Rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, and paper

beats rock. Two of the same is a draw.

 The West Coast of the United States is home to a These lizards have been playing the game in the

species of a lizard known as the common course of perpetuating their genes for a long time,

side-blotched lizard. The male comes in three and it would be interesting to know whether they

different colors — orange, blue, and yellow — and have developed a strategy for winning. Their

each color has a different mating strategy. Orange population tends to follow a six-year cycle in which

lizards are the strongest and will attack and beat first orange dominates, then yellow, then blue, then

blue lizards. The blue lizards are bigger than the orange once again. The pattern that emerges is

yellow lizards and are happy to engage in battle with precisely the one that people will use in trying to

them and beat them. But though the yellow lizards win the game in one-to-one combat. See too many

are smaller than the blue and orange males, they rocks being thrown and you start to offer paper, but

look like female lizards, and that confuses the orange once your opponent sees the run of paper beating

lizards. So the orange lizards, who are looking for a the stone, he or she wises up and switches to

fight, don’t notice the yellow lizards slipping under scissors to cut off your paper run. You soon pick up

their gaze and mating with the females. The yellow your opponent’s change of behavior and shift to

lizards are sometimes referred to as “sneakers” for rock.

the sneaky way in which they beat the orange ones.

So orange beats blue, blue beats yellow, and yellow At its heart, winning this game is all about spotting

beats orange — an evolutionary version of patterns, and that’s a very mathematical trait. If you

rock-paper-scissors. can predict what your opponent is going to do next

because of a pattern of behavior he or she has

established, then you’re in. The problem is that you

don’t want there to be any immediately obvious

rhythm in the way you respond, or your opponent

will gain the upper hand. A huge amount of

psychology is going on as each contestant tries to

spot patterns in his or her opponent’s play, each

second-guessing what the other might do next.