GE4 – MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD Instructor: Eirene S.

Neonal
MODULE 1 – THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS 09515132448
[1] MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD neonaleirenesilva@gmail.com

I. Objectives:
(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;
(4) Express appreciation for mathematics as a human endeavor;
(5) Gain understanding on importance of Mathematics; and
(6) Recognize and describe other patters in Mathematics in nature.

II. Warm-up:
For 2-5 minutes, ponder on the following questions and write your answers in a sheet of
paper.
(1) What does mathematics have to do with nature?
(2) What is the use of mathematics?
(3) Do I appreciate things that shows or represents mathematics?
(4) What is a mathematical pattern?
(5) Can I give some example of things that shows or represents mathematics?

III. Self-Assessment
After completing the warm-up activity, tick the column that best describes your
preception about mathematics. Answer the section as objectively as possible. Bear in
mind that there are no wrong answers.

Usually Sometimes Seldom Never

(3) (2) (1) (0)
I am a keen observer.
I appreciate the things
around me.
I look for things that
represents mathematics.
I research on how things
are formed.
I research on how things
are related to mathematics.
I appreciate the help of
mathematics in daily life.
I understand why
mathematics is important.
I give importance to the
use of mathematics in
our daily life.
I identify patters in
mathematics in nature.
I am able to look and site
example of things that
represent mathematics.
TOTAL
GRAND TOTAL

1
GE4 – MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD Instructor: Eirene S. Neonal
MODULE 1 – THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS 09515132448
[1] MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD neonaleirenesilva@gmail.com

Interpretation:
Score Level of Proficiency
26-30 Advanced
25-27 Proficient
23-24 Approcahing Proficiency
21-22 Developing
20 and below Beginning

IV. Input

A. Patterns and Numbers in Nature and the World

 What does mathematics have to do with nature?

• The natural world is full of beauty and amazing shapes and patterns.
• According to Ian Stewart, we live in a universe of patters.
• Our nature abounds in mystical colors and intricate shapes and patterns that
can be described mathematically.
• The best examples are:
1. the tigers and zebras that are covered in patterns of stripes, and the
leopards and hyenas that are covered in spots, which confirm the
mathematical uniformities in biological growth and forms in nature;
2. the perfect hexagonal honeycombs of beehives formed by bees to
help maximize the use of space for food storage;
3. the rainbow mosaic of a butterfly’s wing;
4. the beauty of a flower and its petals;
5. the swirl-shaped shell;
6. snowflakes; and
7. Leaves of a fern.
 What is the use of Mathematics?
• Mathematics makes our daily life orderly and systematic, and it prevents
chaos.  It helps us to see patterns needed to generalize a broader solution to
a problem.
• Mathematics can be used also to express, solva and interpret the puzzles
observed in nature.
• Mathematics expounds the power of reasoning, creativity, abstract or spatial
thinking, critical thinking, problem-solving ability, and even effective
communication skills.
 What is a Mathematical Pattern?
• Mathematics can be described as a science of patterns.
• Patterns are things that are repetitive, which can be found in nature as color,
shape, action, or some other sequences that are almost everywhere.
• A pattern is anything that is repetitive and follows a rule.
• Types of Pattern:
1. Symmetry. The pattern repeats again and again. Example are floor
tiling, wallpapers, decorative vases, staircase and brickwalls.
2. Number of Patterns and Sequences. You notice that the figure
below has an increasing number of rectangles from left to right. The
rectangles are being doubled from 1 to 2, and 2 to 4.

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GE4 – MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD Instructor: Eirene S. Neonal
MODULE 1 – THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS 09515132448
[1] MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD neonaleirenesilva@gmail.com

 Even the well-known Pascal’s Triangle shows number patterns. The

inside number in each row can be found by adding the two
numbers above it. Thus, the number of the third line of the
Pascal’s Triangle is 1+1=2.

1
1 1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
5 10 10 5 1

3. 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.

4. Meanders – is one of a series of regular

sinuous curves, bend, 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, cencave bank and deposits this and
other sediment downstream of an inner, convex bank which is typically a
point bar.
5. Wave – is a disturbance that transfer
energy through matter or space, with or
no associated mass transport. Waves
consist of ascillations or vibrations of a

3
GE4 – MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD Instructor: Eirene S. Neonal
MODULE 1 – THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS 09515132448
[1] MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD neonaleirenesilva@gmail.com

physical medium or a field, around relatively fixed locations. Surface

waves in water show water ripples.
6. Dune – When winds blow over large
bodies of sand, they create dunes. A
dune is a landform, and is a large mass
of windblown sand. Dunes are most
common in deserted environments,
such as the Sahara, and also near
beaches.

7. Bubbles – A soap bubble is a very thin

film of soap water that forms a hollow
sphere with an iridescent surface. Soap
bubbles usually last for only a few
moments and then burst either on their
own or on contact with another object.

8. Foam – A foam is a mass of bubbles;

foams of different materials occur in
nature.

9. Tessellation – are patterns formed by

repeating tiles all over a flat surface.

10. Fracture or crack – is the separation of

an object or material into two or more
pieces under the action of stress.

11. Stripes – are made by a series of bands

or strips, often of the same width and
color along the length.

12. Fractal – is a never-ending pattern.

Fractals are infinitely complex patterns
that are sefsimilar across different

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GE4 – MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD Instructor: Eirene S. Neonal
MODULE 1 – THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS 09515132448
[1] MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD neonaleirenesilva@gmail.com

scales. They are created by repeating a simple process over and over
in an ongoing feedback loop.

B. The Fibonacci Numbers, Fibonacci Sequence and Fibonacci Spiral

 The Fibonacci Number:

• The Fibonacci numbers are series of numbers that often occur in nature. This
number sequence was developed in middle ages.
• Fibonacci numbers was named after Leonardo Pisano Bigollo, a famous Italian
mathematician who also happened to discover Fibonacci.
• Fibonacci is a short term for the Latin filius bobacci, which means “The Son of
Bonacci.”
• In 1202, he published his most prominent work the Liber Abaci (The Book of
Calculating). He introduced here his famous rabbit problem.
 Fibonacci started with a pair of fictional and
slightly unbelievable baby rabbits, a baby
boy rabbit and a baby girl rabbit.
 They were fully grown after one month

 The next month two more baby rabbits

(again a boy and a girl) were born.

 The next month these babies were fully

grown and the first pair had two more baby
rabbits (again, handily a boy and a girl).

 The next month the two adult pairs

each have a pair of baby rabbits
and the babies from last month
mature.

 The Fibonacci Sequence:

• A sequence (noun) is an ordered set of numbers, shapes, or any other

mathematical objects arranged into a rule.
• The Fibonacci sequence is a set of numbers that starts with a one or a zero,
followed by a one, and proceeds based on the rule that each number (called a
Fibonacci number) is equal to the sum of the preceding two numbers.  The
series of numbers 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 … is called Fibonacci
Sequence.
In particular,
– 2 is found by adding the two numbers before it (1+1)
– 3 is found by adding the two numbers before it (1+2)

5
GE4 – MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD Instructor: Eirene S. Neonal
MODULE 1 – THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS 09515132448
[1] MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD neonaleirenesilva@gmail.com

– 5 is found by adding the two numbers before it (2+3) – and 8 is from (3+5),
and so on.

n 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 …
F(n) 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 …

The 6 is called F6 (which is equal to 8).

• The rule of Fibonacci sequence is “the next number is the sum of the previous
two.” This kind of rule is sometimes called recurrence relation.
Mathematically, this is written into a functional notation:

Fn = Fn-1 + Fn-2 using f0 = 0 and f1 = 1

where Fn – is term number n

Fn-1 – is the previous term (n – 1)
Fn-2 – is the term before that (n – 2)

• Another interesting thing about Fibonacci sequence is that it shows multiples

of a number.

n 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 …
F(n) 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 …

x3 = 2. Every 3rd number is a multiple of 2 (2, 8, 34, 144, 610,…)

x4 = 3, Every 4th number is a multiple of 3 (3, 21, 144,…)
x5 = 5, Every 5th number is a multiple of 5 (5, 55, 610,…)
x6 = 8, and every 6th number is a multiple of 8.
In inclusion, every nth number is a multiple of xn.

 The Fibonacci Spiral:

• Fibonacci Spiral is the most prominent geometric application of Fibonacci

numbers in our nature.

 The well -known sunflowers have a Golden Spiral

seed arrangeme nt. This provides a biological
advantage because it maximizes the number of
seeds that can be packed into a seed head.

 Similarly, we can see a double set of spirals in the

pinecones or pineapples – one going in a clockwise
direction and one in the opposite direc tion.

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GE4 – MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD Instructor: Eirene S. Neonal
MODULE 1 – THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS 09515132448
[1] MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD neonaleirenesilva@gmail.com

C. Golden Ratio, Golden Rectangle and Golden Spiral

 Golden Ratio:
• The universe may be chaotic and unpredictable, but it's also a highly
organized physical realm bound by the laws of mathematics.
• The golden ratio (often represented by the Greek letter φ) is directly tied to a
numerical pattern known as the Fibonacci sequence, which is a list composed
of numbers that are the sum of the previous two numbers in the sequence.
• When a Fibonacci number is divided by the Fibonacci number that came
before it, it approaches the golden ratio, which is an irrational number that
starts out as 1.6180339887... and, once again, goes on forever.
• The number phi, often known as the golden ratio, is a mathematical concept
that people have known about since the time of the ancient Greeks. It is an
irrational number like pi and e, meaning that its terms go on forever after the
decimal point without repeating.
• Phi can be defined by taking a stick and breaking it into two portions. If the
ratio between these two portions is the same as the ratio between the overall
stick and the larger segment, the portions are said to be in the golden ratio.

• The Golden Ratio is equal to: 1.61803398874989484820... (etc.) The digits

just keep on going, with no pattern. In fact the Golden Ratio is known to be an
Irrational Number.

We saw above that the Golden Ratio has this property:

We can split the right-hand fraction like this:

is the Golden Ratio φ, which gets

us:
• So the Golden Ratio can be defined in terms of itself!
Let us test it using just a few digits of accuracy:

7
GE4 – MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD Instructor: Eirene S. Neonal
MODULE 1 – THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS 09515132448
[1] MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD neonaleirenesilva@gmail.com

• You can use that formula to try and calculate φ yourself.

First guess its value, then do this calculation again and again:
A. divide 1 by your value (=1/value)
B. add 1
C. now use that value and start again at A

value 1/value 1/value + 1

2 1/2 = 0.5 0.5 + 1 = 1.5
1.5 1/1.5 = 0.666... 0.666... + 1 = 1.666...
1.666... 1/1.666... = 0.6 0.6 + 1 = 1.6
1.6 1/1.6 = 0.625 0.625 + 1 = 1.625
1.625 1/1.625 = 0.6153... 0.6154... + 1 = 1.6153...
1.6153...

 Golden Rectangle and Golden Spiral:

• A Golden spiral is very similar to the Fibonacci spiral but is based on a series
of identically proportioned golden rectangles, each having a golden ratio of
1.618 of the length of the long side to that of the short side of the rectangle:

• The Fibonacci spiral gets closer and closer to a Golden Spiral as it increases
in size because of the ratio of each number in the Fibonacci series to the one
before it converges on Phi, 1.618, as the series progresses (e.g., 1, 1, 2, 3, 5,
8 and 13 produce ratios of 1, 2, 1.5, 1.67, 1.6 and 1.625, respectively)

V. Task

Look for 5 things around your house that represents a pattern. Take a picture of it
and paste it below.

8
GE4 – MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD Instructor: Eirene S. Neonal
MODULE 1 – THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS 09515132448
[1] MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD neonaleirenesilva@gmail.com

VI. Exercises
A. Look for the pattern and write the next three missing number.
1. 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, , ,

2. 1, 4, 9, 16, 25 , , ,

3. 10, 6, 24, 20, 80, , ,

4. 1, 3, 6, 8, 16, 18, 36,
,
,
5. 8, 14, 20, 26, , ,
6. 4, 13, 22, 31, ,
, 7. 64, 32, 16, 8, ,
,
8. 3, 9, 27, 81, , ,
9. 18, 14, 10, 6, , ,
10. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, , ,

B. Observe the number triangle shown below, and write down the missing numbers.
1. 1
1
2
2
5 6

7 8 9 10

1 . 1, 0, 0, 9, 1, 0, 0, 9, 1, 0, 0, 9, what is the 23rd number?

2 . Fill out the box with the missing numbers.
121 11 22

144 12 36

169 52

9
GE4 – MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD Instructor: Eirene S. Neonal
MODULE 1 – THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS 09515132448
[1] MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD neonaleirenesilva@gmail.com

2. 1
2 4

3 6 9

4 16

5 15 25

6 24

C. Find the missing numbers in each of the following patterns.

1. 11 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
11 x 11 x 11 = 1331
11 x 11 x 11 x 11 =

2. 21 x 9 = 189
321 x 9 = 2889
4321 x 9 = 38889
54321 x 9 = 488889

x =
D. True or False. Write T If the statement or equation is TRUE; otherwise, write F.

1. 19 is a prime number; thus, F9 is a prime number.

2. F12 = 144, the index number rd Fibonacci is a
multiple of 2.is equal to its digit sum.
3. Every 3
4. The digit sum of 89 is 17; therefore, F17 = 89.

5. F6 = 8 is the first Fibonacci number with 2 as a factor.

6. 7 is a factor of F8.

7. F3 and Fth4 Fibonacci numberare prime factors of F is a multiple of 3.12.

8. Every 4
9. Every 4th Fibonacci number is an odd number.
10. F12 = 144, the index number 12 is a factor of 144;
therefore, 15 is a factor of F15.

E. Solve using the Golden Ratio. Encircle the answer which is closest to value of the
Golden Ratio φ

10
GE4 – MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD Instructor: Eirene S. Neonal
MODULE 1 – THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS 09515132448
[1] MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD neonaleirenesilva@gmail.com

value 1/value 1/value + 1

2
1.67
1.9
2.3
1.7
1.6

VII. Reflection
Complete the learning log below. You will write in a short paragraph what
you have learned from this lesson.

Name: Date:
Section: Week 1: Lesson 1

Learning Log

11