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MATHEMATICS in our WORLD

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP
 Video watching
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Nature by Numbers by Cristobal Vila

Nature by Numbers - Cristóbal Vila

(2010).mp4

Pair - sharing
JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP
 A. Patterns and Numbers in Nature
and the World
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 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.

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 A. Patterns and Numbers in Nature
and the World
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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
JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP
 The Snowflakes
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JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 The Honeycomb
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Why do the cells of a honeycomb have a

hexagon al form?
The shape turns out to be economical: much
honey is enclosed by minimum beeswax.

VIDEO: click here JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 Petals of flowers
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FLOWERS NUMBER OF PETALS

Lilies 3
Buttercups 5
Delphiniums 8
Marigolds 13
Asters 21
Daisies 34, 55, 89

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 The Sunflower
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Seed patterns of sunflower

All the sunflowers in the world show a number

of spirals that are within the Fibonacci
sequence JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP
 The Snail
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 Cycle of Seasons
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JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 B. The Fibonacci Sequence
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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?

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

Solution:
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 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 month is 3 + 5 = 8.

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

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 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, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐅𝐧 = 𝐅𝐧−𝟏 + 𝐅𝐧−𝟐 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧 ≥ 𝟑.

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 Binet’s Formula
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 The following formula is known as Binet’s formula for the

nth Fibonacci number.
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.

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 Exercise 1
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 Use the definition of Fibonacci numbers to

find the eleventh and twelfth Fibonacci
numbers.

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 Exercise 2
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 Use Binet’s formula and a calculator to

find the 20th, 30th, and 40th Fibonacci
numbers.

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 Fibonacci in Sunflower
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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.

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 Fibonacci in Pineapple
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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.

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 Fibonacci in Plants
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JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 Fibonacci in Fruits
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Inside the fruit of many plants we can observe the

presence of Fibonacci order.

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 Fibonacci in Animals
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The shell of the chambered Nautilus

has Golden proportions. It is a
logarithmic spiral.

The eyes, fins and tail of the

dolphin fall at golden sections
along the body.

A starfish has 5 arms.

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP
 Fibonacci in Human
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JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 C. Mathematics Helps Organize Patterns
and Regularities in the World
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 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.

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 Suggested activity for students
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 Explore patterns in nature and

present them as photo album, photo
exhibit, portfolio, etc. with written
reports.
 Video- presentation

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 D. Mathematics Helps Predict the
Behavior of Nature and the World
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 Mathematics help predict the location, size and

timing of natural disasters
 Made possible by the study of 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.
JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP
 E. Mathematics Helps Control Nature and
Occurrences in the World for our Own Ends
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 Fractal Geometry has been

applied in different fields of
knowledge such as in engineering,
computer graphics, medicine, etc.

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 F. Mathematics Has Numerous Applications
in the World Making it Indispensable
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 Mathematics helps you build things

 Mathematics is helpful in managing financial
matters
 Many more…

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

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 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 in it.

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 ESSAY – Short Response
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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?

JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP

 SYNTHESIS PAPER
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 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 own ends.
FORMAT
 Encoded/Typewritten on a short bond paper
 Font – Times New Roman
 Font Size – 12
 1 inch margin around
 Spacing: 1.5 JOSEPH G. TABAN, UNP
 REFERENCES
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 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.
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end
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