The Nature of

Mathematics
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Lecture
 Objectives
Classify patterns in nature and regularities in the world;

Explain the importance of mathematics in one’s life;

Appreciate mathematics as a human endeavor through creating

self-designed patterns;
 Initial activity

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Mathematics has been called the greatest and most original invention of the human mind
and is one of the great social institutions built up by cooperation during the long history of
civilization. It is a mode of thinking that is necessary for the evolution of the human race. It
relies on both logic and creativity, and it is pursued both for a variety of practical purposes
and for its intrinsic interest.

Intrinsic- the essence of mathematics lies in its beauty

and its intellectual challenge.

Practical- the chief value of mathematics is how it

applies to a person’s own work
 HISTORY OF
MATHEMATICS
 A. Patterns in Nature and the World

What does the word pattern mean to you?

Pattern – is considered as any kind of regularity that can be recognized by the mind.
These could be non mathematical patterns; number patterns; and patterns that would
be valuable to you as you gain mathematical maturity and become a problem solver.
 Patterns are everywhere:
Nature

Science

Man-made

Art

Software
 Patterns in Nature
These are visible regularities of form found in Natural Patterns include:
the natural world. These patterns recur in
different contexts and can sometimes be 1. Symmetries
modelled mathematically. 2. Fractals or Trees
3. Spirals
4. Chaos, flow,
meanders
5. Waves, dunes
What are the different natural patterns? 6. Bubbles, Foam
7. Tessellations
8. Cracks
9. Spots, stripes
 Look at your face in the mirror. Imagine a vertical line going through the middle of your face. What can you say about the

left and right side of your face? Now imagine a butterfly with wings wide spread and an imaginary vertical line going

through the center of its body. What can you say about the left and right side of the butterfly’s body?

 What kind of pattern do the questions above show you?

 This pattern is called symmetry.

 1. Symmetry. Figures can have two distinct types of symmetry: reflection (mirror or
bilateral) symmetry and rotation (radial) n- fold symmetry, which we informally
differentiate below.

 A figure has reflection symmetry if there is a line that can be “folded over” so that one-
half of the figure matches the other half perfectly. The “fold line” is called the figure’s
line (axis) of symmetry.

 A figure has rotation symmetry if there is a point around which the figure can be
rotated, less than a full turn, so that the image matches the original figure perfectly.
Example of Symmetry
2. Fractals or Trees. From the word fraction, or part of a whole, fractals are self-similar, iterated
mathematical constructs where shrinking and moving are applied many times. In a fractal, you will
observe that as new shapes are constructed, they are similar to each of the previous shapes, that is, the
basic components of a fractal are similar to the whole. This means that you can zoom into forever and
find exactly the same shapes.
Example of Fractal
3. Spirals. Spirals are the patterns that we see in many plants and some animals, notably molluscs.
To get a better picture, we will pay attention to a particular kind, the nautilus shell. In a nautilus,
each chamber of its shell is an approximate copy of the next one, scaled by a constant factor and
arranged in a logarithmic spiral. We can say that growth spiral can be seen as a special case of self-
similarity.
4. Chaos, flow, meanders. In mathematics, a dynamical system is chaotic if it is (highly) sensitive to
initial conditions. Meanders are sinuous bends in rivers or other channels, which form as a fluid,
most often water, flows around bends.
6.OVERVIEW
Bubbles, foam. DIAGRAM
A soap bubble forms a sphere. Two bubbles together form a more complex shape: the outer surfaces of both
bubbles are spherical; these surfaces are joined by a third spherical surface as the smaller bubble bulges slightly into the
larger one. A foam is a mass of bubbles.
OVERVIEW
5. Waves, dunes.DIAGRAM
Waves are disturbances that carry energy as they move. When winds blow over large bodies of sand, they
create dunes. Dunes may form a range of patterns including crescents, very long straight lines, stars, domes, parabolas, and
longitudinal or seif ('sword') shapes.
  Have you heard of a tessellation?

 What is a tessellation?
7.OVERVIEW DIAGRAM
Tessellations. Tessellations are patterns formed by repeating tiles all over a flat surface. Among animals, bony fish, reptiles
like the pangolin, are protected by overlapping scales or osteoderms, these form more-or-less exactly repeating units, though
often the scales in fact vary continuously in size
Example of Tessellations
8.OVERVIEW
Cracks. CracksDIAGRAM
are linear openings that form in materials to relieve stress. When an elastic material stretches or shrinks
uniformly, it eventually reaches its breaking strength and then fails suddenly in all directions. Conversely, when an inelastic
material fails, straight cracks form to relieve the stress. Further stress in the same direction would then simply open the
existing cracks; stress at right angles can create new cracks.

Thus the pattern of cracks indicates whether the material is elastic or not. In a tough fibrous material like oak tree
bark, cracks form to relieve stress as usual, but they do not grow long as their growth is interrupted by bundles of strong
elastic fibers. 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
Example of Cracks
9.OVERVIEW DIAGRAM
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. But while these evolutionary and
functional arguments explain why these animals need their patterns, they do not explain how the patterns are formed.
 ASSIGNMENT

Activity #1:

1. Name at least 7 different natural patterns (with attached pictures).

2. Identify the type of pattern to each picture.

3. Discuss the part of the picture that shows patterns.

 B. Numerical and Logical Patterns

NUMERICAL PATTERNS

A lot of people misinterpret mathematics as the study of numbers. It is not really

numbers that matter to a mathematician; rather, it is what they represent. The
mathematician’s true purpose is to study, invent, and discover patterns. While a
scientist studies an actual object, being, or phenomenon, the mathematician provides
him/ her the patterns, structures, and relationships involved in whatever the scientist
studies. It is the mathematician who sets up the framework, the structure, and the
patterns that describe the tangible objects the scientist studies (John Gabriel Pelias,
Pre-calculus 2016).
Practice Tests: Find the next number in each of the following:

1. 3 10 13 23 36
2. 2 4 4 16 16
3. 3 9 6 15 9
4. ¼ ½ 1 2 4
5. 729 243 81 27 9
6. 1 3 4 7 11
7. 2 4 7 11 16
8. 6 11 21 41 81
9. 6 11 21 41 81
10. 1 4 9 16 25
 B. Numerical and Logical Patterns

LOGICAL PATTERNS

The three figures or symbols in each problem set are related to each other in a certain
way.
Practice Tests: Draw the next shape in each of the following picture patterns.
Activity 2 : Answer the Logical Pattern (Abstract Reasoning Problems)
Activity 2 : Answer the Logical Pattern (Abstract Reasoning Problems)
Activity 2 : Answer the Logical Pattern (Abstract Reasoning Problems)
Activity 2 : Answer the Logical Pattern (Abstract Reasoning Problems)
 THANKS! Do you have any questions?
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