MATHEMATICS

in the Modern World

MODULE
1
PATTERNS & NUMBERS IN NATURE & THE WORLD
 General Education 4
SUBJECT CODE

I. Module Title: PATTERNS & NUMBERS IN NATURE & THE WORLD

II. Module Description:
In this module, we will be looking at patterns and regularities in the world, and how
mathematics comes into play, both in nature and in human endeavors.
III. Objectives:
In this module, you will learn the following:
1. Learn about patterns and shapes;
2. Identify and complete the number and symmetrical patterns;
3. Find the angle of rotation; and
4. Describe the population growth of a certain place.
IV. Pre-Test:
A. Determine what comes next in the given patterns.
1. A, C, E, G, I, ________.
2. 15, 10, 14, 10, 13, 10, ______.
3. 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, ______.
4. B, G, L, Q, ______.
5. AB, DE, GH, JK, _____.
B. Find the angle of rotation of the following:
1. spiderwort
2. starfish
3. snowflake
4. trillium
5. buttercup
C. The exponential growth model A = 30e0.02t describes the population of a city in the
Philippines in thousands, t years after 1995.
1. What was the population of the city in 1995?
2. What will be the population in 2017?
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V. Lesson Content:
Patterns and Numbers in Nature and the World
In the general sense of the word, patterns are regular, repeated, or recurring forms or designs.
We see patterns every day—from the layouts of floor tiles, design of skyscrapers, to the way we
tie our shoelaces. Studying patterns help students in identifying relationships and finding logi-
cal connections to form generalizations and make predictions.
Let’s take a look at this pattern :

What do you think will be the next face in the sequence? It should be easy enough to note that
the pattern is made up of two smiling faces-one without teeth and one with teeth. Beginning
with a toothless face, the two faces then alternate. Logically, the face that should follow is

EXAMPLE 1 What Comes Next?

What is the next figure in the pattern below?

Solution:
Looking at the given figures, the lines seem to rotate at 90-degree intervals in a counterclock-
wise direction, always parallel to one side of the square. Hence, either A or B could be the
answer. Checking the other patterns, the length of the lines inside the square follow a
decreasing trend. So again, either A or B could be the answer. Finally, looking at the number of
the lines inside the box, each succeeding figure has the number of lines increase by 1. This
means that the next figure should have five lines inside. This to option A as the correct choice.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS 1

What is the next figure in the given pattern?

EXAMPLE 2 What Number Comes Next?

What number comes next in 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, ____?
Solution
Looking at the given numbers, the sequence is increasing, with each term being two
more than the previous term: 3 = 1 + 2; 5 = 3 + 2; 7 = 5 + 2; 9 = 7 + 2. Therefore, the
next term should be 11 = 9 + 2.
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CHECK YOUR PROGRESS 2

What number comes next in 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, ____?
Patterns indicate a sense of structure and organization that it seems only humans are capable
of producing these intricate, creative, and amazing formations. It is from this perspective that
some people see an “intelligent design” in the way that nature forms.

Snowflakes and Honeycombs

Recall that symmetry indicates that you draw an imaginary line across an object and the
resulting parts are mirror images of each other.

The figure above is symmetric about the axis indicated by the line. Note that the left and right
portions are exactly the same. This type of symmetry, known as line or bilateral symmetry, is
evident in most animals, including humans. Look in a mirror and see how the left and right
sides of your face closely match.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man showing the proportions and symmetry of the human body.
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There are other types of symmetry depending on the number of sides of faces that are
symmetrical. Take a look at these images.

Spiderwort with three-fold symmetry This starfish has a five-fold symmetry

Notice that if you rotate the spiderwort and starfish above by several degrees, you can still
achieve the same appearance as the original position. This is known as rotational symmetry.
The smallest angle that a figure can be rotated while still preserving the original formation is
called the angle of rotation. For the spiderwort, the angle of rotation is 1200 while the angle of
rotation for the baby starfish is 720 .
A more common way of describing rotational symmetry is by order of rotation.

Order of Rotation
A figure has a rotational symmetry of order n (n-fold rotational symmetry) if 1/n of a complete
turn leaves the figure unchanged. To compute for the angle of rotation, we use the following
formula:
Angle of rotation = 3600/n

Consider this image of a snowflake.

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It can be observed that the patterns on a snowflake repeat six times, indicating that there is a
six-fold symmetry. To determine the angle of rotation, we simply divide 3600 by 6 to get 600..
Many combinations and complex shapes of snowflakes may occur, which lead some people to
think that “no two are alike”. If you look closely, however, many snowflakes are not perfectly
symmetrical due to the effects of humidity and temperature on the ice crystal as it forms.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS 3

Find the angle of rotation.
1. Iris
2. Columbine
3. Clematis

Some Examples of Patterns in Nature

A spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther

away as it revolves around the point. Cutaway of a nautilus shell
shows the chambers arranged in an approximately logarithmic
spiral.

A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves, bends,

loops, turns, or windings in the channel of a river, stream, or
other watercourse. It is produced by a stream or river swinging
from side to side as it flows across its floodplain or shifts its
channel within a valley. A meander is produced by a stream or
river as it erodes the sediments comprising an outer, concave
bank and deposits this and other sediment downstream of an
inner, convex bank which is typically a point bar.

A wave is a disturbance that transfer energy through matter or

space, with or no associated mass transport. Waves consist of
oscillations or vibrations of a physical medium or a field, around
relatively fixed locations. Surface waves in water show water rip-
ples.
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Foam is a substance formed by trapping pockets of gas in a liquid

or solid. A bath sponge and the head on a glass of beer are
examples of foams. In most foams, the volume of gas is large, with
thin films of liquid or solid separating the regions of gas. Soaps
foams are also known as suds.

A tessellation of a flat surface is the tiling of a plane using one

or more geometric shapes, called tiles, with no overlaps and no
gaps. In mathematics, tessellations can be generalized to higher
dimensions and a variety of geometries.

A fracture or crack is the separation of an object or material

into two of or more pieces under the action of stress. The fracture
of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain
displacement develops perpendicular to the surface of
displacement, it is called a normal tensile crack or simply a crack;
if a displacement develops tangentially to the surface of
displacement, it is called a shear crack, slip band, or dislocation.

Stripes are made by a series of bands or strips, often of the same

width and color along the length.

A fractal is a never-ending pattern. Fractals are infinitely complex

patterns that are self-similar across different scales. They are
created by repeating a simple process over and over in an ongoing
feedback loop. Driven by recursion, fractals are images of
dynamic systems—the pictures of chaos. Geometrically, they exist
in between our familiar, since nature is full of fractals.
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Affine Transformations—These are the processes of rotation,

reflection and scaling. Many plant forms utilize these processes
to generate their structure. In the case of Broccoli and
Cauliflower heads, it can readily be seen that there is a type of
pattern, which also shows some spiraling in the case of Broccoli.
What is happening in Cauliflower head is perhaps not so obvious
but in the case of a fern the rotating pattern is very evident. Each
branch appears to be a smaller version of the main plant and so
on, at smaller scales.

The following pictures show patterns and regularities in nature.

Sunflower Hyena’s spots Snowflakes

Snail shell Tiger stripes Honeycombs

World Population
As of 2017, it is estimated that the world population is about 7.6 billion. World leaders, sociolo-
gists, and anthropologists are in studying population, including its growth. Mathematics can be
used to model population growth. Recall that the formula for exponential growth is A = Pert ,
where A is the size of the population after it grows, P is the initial number of people, r is the
rate of growth, and t is the time. Recall further that e is Euler’s constant with an approximate
value of 2.718. Plugging in values to this formula would result in the population size after time t
with a growth rate of r.
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EXAMPLE 3 Population Growth

The exponential growth model A = 30e0.02t describes the population of a city in the Philippines
in thousands, t years after 1995.
1. What was the population of the city in 1995?
2. What will be the population in 2017?

Solution
A. Since our exponential growth model describes the population t years after 1995, we consider
1995 as t = 0 and then solve for A, our population size.
A = 30e0.02t
A= 30e0.02(0) Replace t with t = 0
A = 30e0
A = 30(1) e0 = 1
A = 30
Therefore, the city population in 1995 was 30, 000.
B. We need to find A for the year 2017. To find t, we subtract 2017 and 1995 to get t = 22, which
we then plug in to our exponential growth model.
A = 30e0.02t
A= 30e0.02(22) Replace t with t = 22
A = 30e0.44
A = 30(1.55271) e0 = 1.55271
A = 46.5813
Therefore, the city population would be about 46,581 in 2017.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS 4

The exponential growth model A = 50e0.07t describes the population of a city in the
Philippines in thousands, t years after 1997.
A. What is the population after 20 years?
B. What is the population in 2037?
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REFLECTION JOURNAL

Write a reflection journal titled “Patterns & Numbers in Nature & the World” using
the format:
I. Things Learned and Insights
II. Concept Map
III. Difficulties
IV. Unforgettable Experiences/Activities

TEST YOURSELF

A. Determine what comes next in the given patterns.

1. O, M, K, I, G, ____
2. 22, 12, 24, 12, 26, 12, ____
3. 3, 12, 48, 192, 768, 3072, ____
4. 41, 39, 37, 35, 33, ____
5. WVU, SRQ, ONM, ____

B. Find the angle of rotation of the following:

1. marigold
2. delphinium
3. buttercup
4. mariposa lily
5. ragwort

C. Substitute the given values in the formula A = Pert to the missing quantity.
1. P = 680,000; r = 12%; t = 8 years
2. A = 1,240,000; r = 8%; t = 30 years
3. A = 786,000; P = 247,000; t = 17 years
4. A = 731,093; P = 525,600; r= 3%