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UNIT I. MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD

Overview
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 the power of creativity, reasoning, critical
thinking, and others. It provides the opportunity to solve simple and complex problems in many real-world contexts using various
strategies. Mathematics is a universal way to make sense of the world and communicate the understanding of concepts and rules
using mathematical symbols, signs, proofs, language, and conventions. Mathematics helps organize patterns and regularities in the
world. The geometry of most patterns in nature can be associated directly or indirectly to mathematical numbers. 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 indispensable. Mathematics, being a science of patterns, helps
students utilize, recognize, and generalize patterns that exist in numbers, shapes, and the world around them. Students with such skills
are better problem solvers and have a better sense and appreciation of nature and the world. Hence, they should have
opportunities to analyze, synthesize, and create a variety of patterns and to use pattern -based thinking to understand and
represent mathematical and other real-world phenomena. These explorations present unlimited opportunities for problem-solving,
verifyinggeneralizations,andbuildingmathematicalandscientific competence.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:

1. Identify patters in nature and regularities in the world;
2. Articulate theimportance 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 for mathematics as a human endeavour.

Setting Up (Unit 1)

Name: Score:

Course/Year/Section: Date:

Look around. Do you see trees? How about other plants and animals? What is the weather today? Do you see clouds?
Draw/capture and paste specific field of view outside of your room or home and tell or name all the pattern/s that you can see. Tell
something about the pattern you observe. Present atleastthree but not more than five observations.
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Lesson Proper

Patterns in Nature

Pattern that you can see in nature are visible regularities or form found in the natural world. These patters persist in different
contexts and can sometimes be demonstrated mathematically. These include symmetries, trees, spirals, meanders, waves, foams,
tessellations, cracks and stripes1.
Living things like plants and animals such as orchids, hummingbirds and peacock’s tail have abstract designs with a beauty of
form, pattern and color that artists struggle to match2. The beauty that people perceive in nature has causes at different levels
notably in he mathematics that governs what patters can physically form, and among living things in the effects of natural selection, that
govern how patterns evolve.
Mathematics seeks to discover and explain abstract patterns or regularities of all kinds3. Visual patterns in nature find
explanations in chaos theory, fractals, logarithmic spirals, topology and other mathematical patterns. In Biology, natural selection
can cause the development of patterns in living things for several reasons, including camouflage4, sexual selection and different signaling,
including mimicry and cleaning symbiosis. In plants, the shapes, colors and patterns of insect-pollinated flowers like the gumamela
(Hibiscus rosasinensis Linn.) have evolved to attract insects such as bees. Radial patterns of colors and stripes, some visible only in
ultraviolet rays serve as nectar guides that can be seen at a distance5.

Types of Pattern

Symmetry

Symmetry is general in all living organisms. Animals mainly have bilateral or mirror symmetry, as do the leaves of the
plants and some flowers such as orchids6. Plants often have radial or rotational symmetry, as do many flowers and some
groups of animals such as sea anemones. Fivefold- symmetry is found in echinoderms, the group that includes starfish,
sea urchins and sea lilies 7.
Among non-living things, snowflakes have striking six-fold symmetry. Each flake’s structure forms a record of the
varying conditions during its crystallization, with nearly the same pattern of growth on each of its six arms 8.

Figure 1. Five-fold symmetry of an echinoderm

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish

Figure 2. Radial or rotational symmetry of a cactus

Source: https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/29414203785745129/
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Figure 3. Six-fold symmetry of a snowflake

Source: Mariia Tagirova/Shutterstock

Trees, fractals

Fractals are infinitely self-similar, iterated mathematical constructs having fractal dimension9. For example, the
leaves of ferns and umbellifers (Apiaceae) are only self-similar (pinnate) to 2, 3 or 4 leaves. Fern-like growth patterns
occur in plants and in animals including bryozoan, corals, hydrozoa, and others. Fractal-like patterns occur widely in
nature, in phenomena as diverse as clouds, river networks, fault lines, mountains, coastlines, animal coloration,
snowflakes, crystals, blood vessel branching, actin cytoskeleton, and ocean waves10.

Figure 4. Romanesco Broccoli exemplifying fractal pattern

Source: https://www.growseed.co.uk/cauliflower-seeds/romanesco-cauliflower.html

Figure 5. Clover leaf

Source: https://www.amazon.com/slp/clover-leaf-plant/s2683d3kprrr3u9
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Spirals

Spiral symmetry is also largely present in nature. To name a few, we find spirals in sunflowers, nautilus
shells, snail shells, and weather patterns. A spiral is formed because of a property of growth known as self-
similarity, which means that the same shape is maintained as the creature grows.

Figure 6. Nautilus shell

Source: https://www.netclipart.com/isee/ibmRbbx_nautilus-shell-transparent-background/

Figure 7. Sunflower
Source: https://www.treehugger.com/nature-blows-my-mind-hypnotic-patterns-sunflowers-4859272

Chaos, meanders, flow

Chaos, meanders and flow have simple patterns in nature with a chaotic behavior, whirling patterns and
the like. Meanders are sinuous bends in rivers or other channels, which form a fluid, most often water, flows
around bends. As soon as the path is slightly curved, the size of the curvature of each loop increases as helical
flow drags material like sand and gravel across the river to the inside of the bend.

Figure 8. Textile Cone

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Textile_cone_(cropped).JPG

Figure 9. Brain coral (Diplora strigosa)

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Diplora_strigosa_(Symmetrical_Brain_Coral)_closeup.jpg
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Wave, dunes

Waves are disturbances that carry energy as they move. As waves in water or wind pass over sand, they
create patters of ripples. When winds blow over large bodies of sand, they create dunes.

Figure 10. Boelge stor (Waves)

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boelge_stor.jpg

Figure 11. Afghanistan (Sistan) Wind Riffles (Dunes)

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1969_Afghanistan_(Sistan)_wind_ripples.tiff

Bubbles, foam

A soap bubble forms a sphere, a surface with minimal area – the smallest possible surface area for the
volume enclosed. Foam is a mass of bubbles; foams of different materials occur in nature. At the scale of living
cells, foam patterns are common; radiolarians, sponge spicules, silicoflagellate exoskeletons and calcite
skeleton of a sea urchin.

Figure 12. Bubbles

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Equal_spheres_in_a_plane.tif

Figure 13. Foam

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Foam_-_big.jpg
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Tessellations

Tessellations (repeating tile patterns or tilling) is a pattern made up of one or more geometric shapes
joined together without overlapping or forming any gaps to cover a plane. The spots on giraffe’s body also exhibit
a tessellation. Naturally occurring tessellations can also be found in snake’s skin, turtle’s shell, lizard’s scales,
dragonfly’s wings, spots of a tiger, and so on.

Figure 14. Honeycomb

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kin_selection,_Honey_bees.jpg

Figure 15. Fritillaria meleagris blomst

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fritillaria-meleagris-blomst.JPG

Cracks

Cracks 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, creating cracks
with 120 degrees’ joints, so three cracks meet at a node. The pattern of cracks indicates whether the material is
elastic or not.

Figure 16. Cracked earth in the Rann of Kutch

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cracked_earth_in_the_Rann_of_Kutch.jpg
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Figure 17. Palm tree bark pattern

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Palm_tree_bark_pattern.jpg

Spots, stripes

Leopards and ladybirds are spotted; anglefish and zebras are striped. These patterns have an
evolutionary explanation: they have functions, which increase the chance that the offspring of the patterned animal
will survive to reproduce. One function of animal pattern is camouflaging, for example, a leopard that us harder to
see catches more prey. Another function is signaling – for instance, a ladybird is less likely to be attacked by
predatory birds that hunt by sight, if it has bold warning colors, and is also distastefully bitter or poisonous, or
mimics other distasteful insects.

Figure 18. Leopard

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leopard_africa.jpg

Figure 19. Cropped Photograph of Array of Ladybirds by G. G. Jacobson

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jacobs24.jpg

Numbers in Nature

We have seen that patterns are everywhere in nature. But do you know that some of these patterns can be explained
mathematically? Yes, there is a link between mathematics and some patterns found in nature. The Fibonacci sequence, for example,
appears very often in flowers, such as in the number of petals, the arrangement of seeds, or in the arrangement of leaves around a
stem.
Below are sunflower seed pattern. You can easily spot two families of spirals, one running counter-clockwise and one running
clockwise direction. The number of spirals is 34 and 55, respectively. Some sunflowers have 21 and 24 spirals; some have 55 and
89 or 89 and 144 depending on the species. Notice that such apair ofnumber of spirals actually forms two consecutive
numbers of the Fibonacci sequence.
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Figure20. Sunflower Head Pattern with Counter-clockwise Spirals

Source: https://momath.org/home/fibonacci-numbers-of-sunflower-seed-spirals/

Figure 21. Sunflower Head Pattern with Clockwise Spirals

Source: https://momath.org/home/fibonacci-numbers-of-sunflower-seed-spirals/

Another example in which we can find Fibonacci numbers in nature is in the number of petals different flowers have. Some
lilies and iris have three petals, gumamela and calachuchi have five, some variety of sampaguita has eight, corn marigolds have
11, and some daisies have 34, 55 or even 89 petals. Fibonacci numbers also appear in the arrangement of leaves and
branches in some plants.
Nature is full of shapes and patterns. Look closely to things around you such as flowers, trees, animals, rocks, rivers, etc.
Try to search for patterns so that you may be able to find mathematical correlations to this.

The Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci Numbers

Leonardo Pisano Bogollo lived between 1170 and 1250 in Italy. His nickname, “Fibonacci” roughly means “Son of Bonacci”
(Fibonacci Sequence, 2016).

Aside from being famous for the Fibonacci Sequence, he also helped spread Hindu Arabic Numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8 and 9) through Europe in place of Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV, V, etc.). Fibonacci Day is November 23, as it has the digits
“1, 1, 2, 3” which is part of the sequence, which he developed. This famous Fibonacci sequence has fascinated mathematicians,
artists, designers, and scientists for centuries. Also recognized as the Golden Ratio, the Fibonacci sequence goes like this:

0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 55 89 144 233
34 …

What is the value of the next Fibonacci Number?

Example: Fib (n) = x ; Fib (2) = the 2nd Fibonacci Number, thus Fib (2) = 1.
Another example: Fib (7) = 8 ; Fib (12) = 89 ; Fib (1) = 0

Each number in the sequence is the sum of the two numbers, which precede it. The ratio of any two successive Fibonacci
numbers is very close to the Golden Ratio, referred to and represented as phi (ϕ) which is approximately equal to 1.618034… .
The bigger the pair of Fibonacci numbers considered, the closer is the approximation.

A B B/A = ϕ
2 3 1.5
3 5 1.66666666666667
5 8 1.6
8 13 1.625
… … …
144 233 1.6180555556
233 377 1.6180257511
… … …
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75025 121393 1.6180339887
121393 196418 1.6180339888
196418 317811 1.6180339887
… … …

Try to solve the missing patterns in columns A, B and B/A below:

Figure 22. Fibonacci Rectangle and the Golden Ratio

Source: https://noughtyscience.wordpress.com/2015/07/20/fibonacci-from-a-simple-sequence-to-the-golden-ratio/

In geometry, a golden spiral is a logarithmic spiral whose growth factor is phi, the golden ratio. That is, a golden spiral gets
wider (or further from its origin) by a factor of phi for every quarter turn in makes. Examples of Fibonacci flowers are: three-petal
lily and iris; five-petal wild rose, larkspur, buttercup and columbine; eight-petal delphiniums; thirteen-petal flower ragwort, corn
marigold and cineraria; 21-petal aster, chicory and black-eyed susan;34-petal phtethrum and plantain and others

References
The following are the references used to discuss several pieces of information in the discussion. References are based on the
order of appearance or citation, notin alphabetical order. Sources forfigures used in this module are cited below the figures.

1. Stevens1974,p.3citedathttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature#CITEREFStewart2001
2. Balaguer, Mark (7 April 2009) [2004]. "Platonism in Metaphysics". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 4
May 2012.
3. Steen,L.A.(1988)."TheScienceofPatterns".Science.240:611–616.doi:10.1126/science.240.4852.611
4. Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species. 1859, chapter 4.
5. Koning, Ross (1994). "Plant Physiology Information Website". Pollination Adaptations. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
6. Stewart 2001, pp. 48–49. Cited at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature#CITEREFStewart2001
7. Stewart 2001, pp. 64–65. Cited at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature#CITEREFStewart2001
8. Stewart2001,p.52.Citedathttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature#CITEREFStewart2001
9. Mandelbrot, Benoît B. (1983). The fractal geometry of nature. Macmillan.
10. Addison, Paul S. (1997). Fractals and chaos: an illustrated course. CRC Press. pp. 44–46.

Guide Question for you to ponder:

What can you say that everything you see in nature is governed by the patterns based on mathematical concepts and theories?
What is it about mathematics that might have changed your thoughts about it? Write your thoughts on the sheet provided after the unit
assessment.
CHOOSE ONLY ONE ACTIVITY between Assessing Learning Unit 1-A and Assessing Learning Unit 1-B. You don’t need to answer
both of the activities.
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Assessing Learning (Unit 1-A)

Show your appreciation in the short movie and article inspired on numbers, geometry and nature by writing an essay to
answer the question: What have you learned from this video/article?

Short movie: Nature by Numbers by Cristobal

Vila https://vimeo.com/9953368

Assessing Learning (Unit 1-B)

Prepare a 2-page synthesis paperfocusing on ONLY ONE of thefollowing aspects of mathematics. You may use
several articles but please cite responsibly and correctly using APA style of citation.

1. Mathematics helps organize patterns and regularities in the world.

2. Mathematics helps predict the behavior of nature and phenomena in the world.
3. Mathematics helps control nature and occurrences in the world for the good of mankind.
4. Mathematics has numerous applications in the world, making it indispensible.
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Assessing Learning (Unit 1)

Name: Score:

Course/Year/Section: Date:

Answer to Assessing Learning Unit 1-

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Answer to the Guide Question: What can you say that everything you see in nature is governed by the patterns based on
mathematical concepts andtheories? What isitabout mathematicsthat might have changed yourthoughts about it?

Assessing Learning Unit 1 References: