Lesson 1.

2 The Mathematics in Our World

Specific Objective
1. To develop one’s understanding about patterns;
2. To identify different patterns in nature;
3. To recognize different symmetries in nature; and
4. To explain the presence of Fibonacci Numbers in Nature

The mathematics in our world is rooted in patterns. Patterns are all around us. Finding
and understanding patterns give us great power to play like god. With patterns, we can discover
and understand new things; we learn to predict and ultimately control the future for our own
advantage.
A pattern is a structure, form, or design that is regular, consistent, or recurring. Patterns
can be found in nature, in human-made designs, or in abstract ideas. They occur in different
contexts and various forms. Because patterns are repetitive and duplicative, their underlying
structurer regularities can be modelled mathematically. In general sense, any regularity that can
be explained mathematically is a pattern. Thus, an investigation of nature’s patterns is an
investigation of nature’s numbers. This means that the relationships can be observed, that logical
connections can be established, that generalizations can be inferred, that future events can be
predicted, and that control can possibly be possible.

Discussion

Different Kinds of Pattern

As we look at the world around us, we can sense the orchestrating great regularity and
diversity of living and non-living things. The symphonies vary from tiny to gigantic, from simple
to complex, and from dull to the bright. The kaleidoscope of patterns is everywhere, and they
make the nature look only fascinating but also intriguing. Paradoxically, it seemed that everything
in the world follows a pattern of their own and tamed by the same time pattern of their own.

Patterns of Visuals. Visual Patterns are often unpredictable, never quite repeatable, and often
contain fractals. These patterns are can be seen from the seeds and pinecones to the branches
and leaves. They are also visible in self-similar replication of trees, ferns, and plants throughout
nature.

Patterns of Flow. The flow of liquids provides an inexhaustible supply of nature’s patterns.
Patterns of flow are usually found in the water, stone, and even in the growth of trees. There is
also a flow pattern present in meandering rivers with the repetition of undulating lines.

Patterns of Movement. In the human walk, the feet strike the ground in a regular rhythm: the
left-right-left-right-left rhythm. When a horse, a four-legged creature walks, there is more of a
complex but equally rhythmic pattern. This prevalence of pattern in locomotion extends to the
scuttling of insects, the flights of birds, the pulsations of jellyfish, and the wave-like movements
of fish, worms, and snakes.

Patters of Rhythm. Rhythm is conceivably the most basic pattern in nature. Our hearts and lungs
follow a regular repeated pattern of sounds or movement whose timing is adapted to our body’s
needs. Many of nature’s rhythms are most likely similar to a heartbeat, while others are like
breathing. The beating of the heart, as well as breathing have a default pattern.

Patterns of Texture. A texture is a quality of a certain object that we sense through touch. IT
exists as a literal surface that we can feel, see, and imagine. Textures are of many kinds. IT can
be bristly, and rough, but it can also be smooth, cold, and hard.

Geometric Patterns. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern which consists of a series of shapes
that are typically repeated. These are regularities in the natural world that are repeated in a
predictable manner. Geometrical patterns are usually visible on cacti and succulents.

Patterns Found in Nature

Common patterns appear in nature, just like what we see when we look closely at plants,
flowers, animals, and even at our bodies. These common patterns are all incorporated in many
natural things.

Waves and Dunes. A wave is any form of disturbance that carries energy as it moves. Waves are
of different kinds: mechanical waves which propagate through a medium – air or water, making
it oscillate as waves pass by. Wind waves, on the other hand are surface waves that create the
chaotic patterns of the sea. Similarly, water waves are created by energy passing through water
causing it to move in a circular motion. Likewise, ripple patterns and dunes are formed by sand
wind as they pass over the sand.

Spots and Stripes. We can see patterns like spots on the skin of a giraffe. On the other hand,
stripes are visible on the skin of a zebra. Patterns like spots and stripes that commonly present
in different organism are results of a reaction-diffusion system (Turing, 1952). The size and the
shape of the pattern depend on how fast the chemicals diffuse and how strongly they interact.

Spirals. The spiral patterns exist on the scale of the cosmos to the miniscule forms of microscopic
animals on earth. The Milky Way that contains our Solar System is a barred spiral galaxy with a
band of bright stars emerging from the center running across the middle of it. Spiral patterns are
also common and noticeable among plans and some animals. Spirals appear in many plants such
as pinecones, pineapples, and sunflowers. On the other hand, animals like ram and kudu also
have spiral patterns on their horns.

Symmetries. In mathematics, if a figure can be folded or divided into two with two halves which
are the same, such figure is called a symmetric figure. Symmetry has a vital role in pattern
formation. IT is used to classify and organize information about patterns by classifying the motion
or deformation of both pattern structures and processes. There are many kinds of symmetry, and
the most important ones are reflections, rotations, and translations. These kinds of symmetries
are less formally called flips, turns, and slides.

Reflection symmetry, sometimes called lime symmetry or mirror symmetry, captures

symmetries when the left half of a pattern is the same as the right half.

Rotations, also known as rotational symmetry, captures symmetries when it still looks the same
after some rotation (of less than one full turn). The degree of rotational symmetry of an object is
recognized by the number of distinct orientations in which it looks the same for each rotation.

Translations. This is another type of symmetry. Translational symmetry exists in patterns that we
see in nature and in man-made objects. Translations acquire symmetries when units are repeated
and turn out having identical figures, like the bees’ honeycomb with hexagonal tiles.

Symmetries in Nature

From the structure of subatomic particles to the of the entire universe, symmetry is
present. The presence of symmetries in nature does not only attract our visual sense, but also
plays an integral and prominent role in the way our life works.

Human body. The human body is one of the pieces of evidence that there is symmetry in nature.
Our body exhibits bilateral symmetry. It can be divided into two identical halves.

Animal Movement. The symmetry of motion is present in animal movements. When animals
move, we can see that their movements also exhibit symmetry.

Sunflower. One of the most interesting things about a sunflower is that it contains both radial
and bilateral symmetry. What appears to be “petals” in the outer ring are actually small flowers
also known as ray florets. These small flowers are bilaterally symmetrical. On the other hand, the
dark inner ring of the sunflower is a cluster of radially symmetrical disk florets.

Snowflakes.
Snowflakes have six-fold radial symmetry. It is an example of fractals. The ice crystals that
make-up the snowflakes are symmetrical or patterned. The intricate shape of a single arm of a
snowflake is very much similar to the other arms. This only proves that symmetry is present in a
snowflake. Computer programmers use fractals to generate the in-game environment of many
computer games.

Honeycombs/Beehive. Honeycombs or beehives are examples of wallpaper symmetry. This kind

of symmetry is created when a pattern is repeated until it covers a plane. Beehives are made of
walls with each side having the same size enclosed with small hexagonal cells. Inside these cells,
honey and pollen are stored and bees are raised.
 The link between the unique shape of honeycombs and the mathematical property of
hexagons was formally stated by Pappus of Alexandria, the last Ancient Greek Mathematician.
Pappus pointed out that triangles, squares, and hexagons are the three regular polygons that can
tile a plane without gaps.

Starfish. Starfish have a radial fivefold symmetry. Each arm portion of the starfish is identical to
each of the other regions.

Fibonacci in Nature

By learning about nature, it becomes gradually evident that the nature is essentially
mathematical, and this is one of the reasons why explaining nature us dependent on
mathematics. Mathematics has the power to unveil the inherent beauty of the natural world.
In describing the amazing variety of phenomena in nature we stumble to discover the
existence of Fibonacci numbers. It turns out that the Fibonacci numbers appear from the smallest
up to the biggest objects in the natural world. This presence of Fibonacci numbers in nature,
which was once existed realm mathematician’s curiously, is considered as one of the biggest
mysteries why some patterns in nature is Fibonacci. But one thing is definitely made certain, and
that what seemed solely mathematical is also natural.
For instance, many flowers display figures adorned with numbers of petals that are in the
Fibonacci sequence. The classic five-petal flowers are said to be the most common among them.
These include the buttercup, columbine, and hibiscus. Aside from those flowers with five petals,
eight-petal flowers like clematis and delphinium also have the Fibonacci numbers, while ragwort
and marigold have thirteen. These numbers are all Fibonacci numbers.
Apart from the counts of flower petals, the Fibonacci also occurs in nautilus shells with a
logarithmic spiral growth. Multiple Fibonacci spirals are also present in pineapples and red
cabbages. The patterns are all consistent and natural.

Golden Ratio
The ratio of two consecutive Fibonacci numbers approaches Φ = 1.618 as n becomes
infinitely large. This ratio is called the golden ratio which is an irrational number. The golden ratio
is also called by other names: golden mean, golden proportion, golden cut, divine section, divine
proportion, extreme and mean ratio, and medial section.
Snail’s shell
The shell of snails grows as the soft fragile body of the mollusk inside the shell matures.
Its outward growth has an uncanny resemblance to a spiral. Two geometric patterns are at play
in their shells. First, the spiral which also resembles the distribution of seeds in a sunflower, and
second, the fractals. The shell’s configuration is self-repeating, it repeats its structure as the shell
grows in size. In addition, the spiral of the shell traces the opposite corners of the squares
generated by Fibonacci sequence.
The Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio are observed in many living things, in artistic
design, in the behavior of people in relation to stock prices and in the moral development of an
individual person to name a few, one wonders if evolution is at play here. Is there is something
about this sequence which gives plants, animals, and humans a better chance at survival and
reproduction?

Learning Activity 1.2

Aside from the examples given, choose five from the different kinds of patterns / patterns in
nature you can find in your environment – garden, home, etc. Take a photo and describe the
photo according to its pattern.

Format: Short bond paper, font arial/ times new roman / calibri, font size 12, 1.5 all line spacing,
normal justified, margin 1’by 1. Name at the footer of the bond paper with course and year and
date submitted.