Chapter 1 GE Math

Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY

Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.: IM-GEMATH-1STSEM-2020-2021
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Bayombong Campus
DEGREE BS MATH COURSE NO. GE MATH

PROGRAM
SPECIALIZATION MATHEMATICS COURSE TITLE MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
YEAR LEVEL FIRST YEAR TIME FRAME 3 HRS WK NO. 1 IM NO. 1
I. CHAPTER 1 - The Nature of Mathematics
II. LESSON TITLE

A. Patterns and Numbers in Nature and the World
B. The Fibonacci Sequence
III. LESSON OVERVIEW
Mathematics helps organize patterns and regularities in the world. The geometry of most patterns
in nature can be associated, either directly or indirectly, to mathematical numbers. The limit and extent
to which natural patterns adhere to mathematical series and numbers are amazing. Mathematics helps
predict the behavior of nature and phenomena in the world. It helps control nature and occurrences in
the world for the good of mankind. Because of its numerous applications, mathematics becomes
indispensible
IV. DESIRED LEARNING OUTCOMES
The students should be able to: 1) Identify patterns in nature and regularities in the world;
2)Articulate the importance of mathematics in one’s life; 3) Argue about the nature of mathematics, what
it is, how it is expressed, represented and used; and 4) Express appreciation of mathematics as a human
behavior.
V. LESSON CONTENT
Mathematics is the study of the relationships among numbers, quantities, and shapes. It includes
arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, geometry, statistics and calculus. Mathematics nurtures human
characteristics like power of creativity, reasoning, critical thinking, spatial thinking and others.
NVSU-FR-ICD-05-00 (081220) Page 1 of 10

A. Patterns and Numbers in Nature and the World
Patterns in nature are visible regularities found in the natural world. These patterns persist in
different context and can be modeled mathematically. Natural patterns may consists spirals, symmetries,
mosaic, stripes, spots, etc. the world seems to make several distinct patterns, developing various
complex steps of formation but a closer and deeper study reveals that these patterns have many
similarities and resemblances.
Plato, Pythagoras and Empedocles and other early Greek philosophers studied patterns and
explain order in nature which lead to the modern understanding of visible patterns.
In the 19th century, Belgian Physicist, Joseph Plateau examined soap films, leads him to formulate
the concept of a minimal surface.
German Biologist and Artist Ernst Haeckel painted hundreds of marine organisms to emphasize
their symmetry.

Scottish Biologists D’Arcy Thompson pioneered the study of growth patterns in both plants and
animals, showing that simple equations could explain spiral growth.
In the 20th century, British Mathematician Alan Turing predicted mechanisms of morphogenesis
which give rise to patterns of spots and stripes.
Hungarian Biologists Aristid Lindenmayer showed how the mathematics of fractals could create
plant growth patterns.
An L-system or Lindenmayer system is a parallel rewriting system and a type of formal

grammar. An L-system consists of an alphabet of symbols that can be used to make strings, a collection
of production rules that expand each symbol into some larger string of symbols, an initial "axiom" string
from which to begin construction, and a mechanism for translating the generated strings into geometric
structures.

French American Benoit Mandelbrot showed how the mathematics of fractals could create plant
growth patterns.
Fractal is a curve or geometric figure, each part of which has the same statistical character as the
whole. Fractals are useful in modeling structures (such as eroded coastlines or snowflakes) in which
similar patterns recur at progressively smaller scales, and in describing partly random or chaotic
phenomena such as crystal growth, fluid turbulence, and galaxy formation.
W. Gary Smith adopts eight patterns in his landscape work, namely; scattered, fractured, mosaic,
naturalistic drift, serpentine, spiral, radial and dendritic. These patterns occur in plants, animals, rock
formations, river flow, stars or in human creations. (Goral, 2017)
Spiral
In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which
emanates from a point, moving farther away as
it revolves around the point.
Scattered
A dispersed settlement, also known as
scattered settlement, is one of the main types of
settlement patterns used by landscape
historians to classify the rural settlements found
in England and other parts of the world.

Radial
Classic radial design is symmetrical, with
elements situated equally around the center.
Think of something like a clock face: there is a
central point where the clock hands meet, digits
encircling this central point, and an equal number
of digits on either side of the center. This same
type of radial design is used in visual art. Take
the stained glass rose window from the famous
Notre Dame Cathedral, for instance.
Radial designs are generated outward
from a center point creating a circular pattern or
design.
Mosaic
A mosaic is a piece of art or image made
from the assembling of small pieces of colored
glass, stone, or other materials. It is often used
in decorative art or as interior decoration.
Most mosaics are made of small, flat, roughly
square, pieces of stone or glass of different
colors, known as tesserae.
Fractured
Fractured patterns arise abundantly in
natural and engineered systems, and their
geometries depend on material properties and
on the ways in which the material is deformed or
forces act on it. Two-dimensional fracture
patterns can be characterized by their network
topology (how fractures connect to each other)
and their heterogeneity (whether fractures
appear clustered or uniformly distributed in
space).
Dendritic
Dendritic-having a branched form
resembling a tree

Serpentine
Something that is serpentine is curving and

winding in shape, like a snake when it moves.
Naturalistic Drift
Natural lines of drift are those paths across

terrain that are the most likely to be used when
going from one place to another. These paths
are paths of least resistance: those that offer the
greatest ease while taking into account obstacles
(e.g. rivers, cliffs, dense unbroken woodland, etc.)
and modes of transit (e.g. pedestrian, automobile,
horses.). Common endpoints or fixed points may
include water sources, food sources, and obstacle
passages such as fords or bridges.
Numbers are everywhere in nature. Mathematicians noticed that numbers appear in many
different patterns in nature: bird’s to wings, clovers’ three leaflets, deer’s four hooves, buttercup’s five
petals, insect’s six legs, rainbow’s seven colors, octopus’ eight arms and many others. As man of science
studied numbers, they also realized their significance in everyday life.
B. The Fibonacci Sequence

In mathematics, the Fibonacci numbers, commonly denoted Fn, form a sequence, called
the Fibonacci sequence, such that each number is the sum of the two preceding ones, starting from 0
and 1. That is, F0 = 0 , F1 = 1 and Fn = Fn – 1 + Fn – 2 for n > 1.
The beginning of the sequence is thus: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377… Each
number in th sequence is the sum of the two number which precede it. In some older books, the value F0
= 0 is omitted, so that the sequence starts with F1 = F2 = 1 and the recurrence Fn = Fn – 1 + Fn – 2 is valid
for n > 2. The Fibonacci spiral: an approximation of the golden spiral created by drawing circular
arcs connecting the opposite corners of squares in the Fibonacci tiling;
Fibonacci numbers are strongly related to the golden ratio: Binet's formula expresses the nth
Fibonacci number in terms of n and the golden ratio, and implies that the ratio of two consecutive
Fibonacci numbers tends to the golden ratio as n increases.
Fibonacci numbers are named after Italian mathematician Leonardo of Pisa, later known
as Fibonacci. In his 1202 book Liber Abaci, Fibonacci introduced the sequence to Western European
mathematics, although the sequence had been described earlier in Indian mathematics, as early as
200 BC in work by Pingala on enumerating possible patterns of Sanskrit poetry formed from syllables
of two lengths.
Fibonacci numbers appear unexpectedly often in mathematics, so much so that there is an
entire journal dedicated to their study, the Fibonacci Quarterly. Applications of Fibonacci numbers
include computer algorithms such as the Fibonacci search technique and the Fibonacci heap data
structure, and graphs called Fibonacci cubes used for interconnecting parallel and distributed
systems.
They also appear in biological settings, such as branching in trees, the arrangement of leaves
on a stem, the fruit sprouts of a pineapple, the flowering of an artichoke, an uncurling fern, and the
arrangement of a pine cone's bracts.

The ratio of any two successive Fibonacci Numbers is very close to the Golden Ratio, referred to
and represented as phi () which is approximately equal to 1.618034… The bigger the pair of Fibonacci
Numbers is considered, the closer is the approximation.

VI. LEARNING ACTIVITIES
What did you learn in the videos? Show your appreciation of this movie inspired on numbers, geometry
and nature by writing an essay for each activity to answer the question.
Activity No. 1 – View https://vimeo.com/9953368 Nature by Numbers by Cristobal Vila.

Activity No. 2 – View https://www.goldennumber.net/spirals/ Spirals and the Golden Ratio by Gary
Meisner
VII. ASSIGNMENT
Answer the following questions in three to five sentences only (5 points each).
1. What new ideas about mathematics did you learn?
2. What is it about mathematics that might have changed your thoughts about it?
VIII. REFERENCES
Barton, B. (2008). The Language of Mathematics: Telling Mathematical Tales. New York, NY:
Springer.
Stewart, Ian (1995). Nature’s Numbers. Date Retrieved: July 25, 2018. Retrieved at
https://cismasemanuel. files.wordpress.com/2010/02/ian-stewart-numerelenaturii.pdf
Vila, Cristobal (2010). Nature by Numbers (Video). Date Retrieved: July 26, 2018. Retrieved at
http://www. etereaestudios.com/docs_html/nbyn_htm/intro.htm

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Republic of the Philippines

NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

DEGREE BS MATH COURSE NO. GE MATH

I. CHAPTER 1 - The Nature of Mathematics

II. LESSON TITLE

III. LESSON OVERVIEW

IV. DESIRED LEARNING OUTCOMES

NVSU-FR-ICD-05-00 (081220) Page 1 of 10

A. Patterns and Numbers in Nature and the World

NVSU-FR-ICD-05-00 (081220) Page 2 of 10

An L-system or Lindenmayer system is a parallel rewriting system and a type of formal

NVSU-FR-ICD-05-00 (081220) Page 3 of 10

NVSU-FR-ICD-05-00 (081220) Page 4 of 10

NVSU-FR-ICD-05-00 (081220) Page 5 of 10

Something that is serpentine is curving and

Natural lines of drift are those paths across

B. The Fibonacci Sequence

NVSU-FR-ICD-05-00 (081220) Page 6 of 10

NVSU-FR-ICD-05-00 (081220) Page 7 of 10

NVSU-FR-ICD-05-00 (081220) Page 8 of 10

VI. LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Activity No. 1 – View https://vimeo.com/9953368 Nature by Numbers by Cristobal Vila.

NVSU-FR-ICD-05-00 (081220) Page 10 of 10

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