CHAPTER 1

The Nature of Mathematics

STARTING ACC
URATELY (Introduction)

Have you ever stopped to look around and notice all the amazing
shapes and patterns we see in the world around us? Have you tried to ask
where did mathematics came from? If not, then this chapter will enlighten
you on the connection of mathematics to the world.

“All things in nature occur mathematically.” This is according to René

Descartes, the father of modern mathematics. Cliché as it is, but
mathematics is all around us. As we discover more and more about our
environment and our surroundings, we see that nature can be described
mathematically. The beauty of a flower, the majesty of a tree, and even the
rocks upon which we walk can exhibit natures sense of symmetry. Although
there are other examples to be found in crystallography or even at a
microscopic level of nature.

OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

a. identify patterns in nature and regularities in the world;

b. articulate the importance of mathematics in one’s life;
c. express appreciation for mathematics as a human endeavor.

Lesson 1– Mathematics in Our World

Stimulating Learning
(Motivation
)

Do these patterns
Can you play an important
identify some role in learning
patterns Mathematics?
around you?

(Input/Lesson Proper
Inculcating Concepts )

Mathematics forms the building blocks of the natural world and can be seen
in stunning ways. It reveals hidden patterns that help us understand the
world around us. Nothing in nature happens without a reason, all of these
patterns have an important reason to exist and they also happen to be
beautiful to watch. Check out examples of some of these patterns and you
may be able to spot a few the next time you go for a walk.

PATTERNS
~ Patterns in nature are visible regularities of form found in the natural
world. These patterns recur in different contexts and can sometimes be
modelled mathematically. Natural patterns include sequences, symmetries,
fractals, spirals, meanders, waves, foams, tessellations, cracks, and stripes.
Traditionally, we think of patterns as something that just repeats again and
again throughout space in an identical way, sort of like a wallpaper pattern.
But many patterns that we see in nature aren't quite like that. We sense that
there is something regular or at least not random about them, but that
doesn't mean that all the elements are identical. I think a very familiar
example of that would be the zebra's stripes. Everyone can recognize that as
a pattern, but no stripe is like any other stripe.
Here are a few examples of mathematical patterns in nature;
Sequence
A sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are
allowed and order matters. One of the most well-known types of sequence
that mostly occurs in nature is the Fibonacci sequence.

The Fibonacci Sequence

“A certain man put a pair of rabbits in a place surrounded on all sides by a
wall. How many pairs of rabbits can be produced from that pair in six months
if it is supposed that every month each pair begets a new pair which from
the second month on becomes productive?”
The figure below shows the number of pairs of rabbits on the first day of
each of the first six months. The larger the rabbits represent mature rabbits

of 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 which is the first 6 terms of a Fibonacci sequence.

that produce another pair of rabbits each month. It will produce a sequence

and 1, the next number is 2. The next is 3 and then 5 and so on.
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, …

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numbers 1 and 1, and then each subsequent

This is a number sequence, it begins with the

numbers. Therefore, after 1

number is found by adding the two previous
 1+1=2
1+ 2 = 3
2+ 3 = 5
3+ 5 = 8
5 + 8 = 13
8 + 13 = 21
13 + 21 = 34 …

The list is named after Leonardo Pisano Bigollo

Liber Abaci in 1202. The book contained a problem that concerns the birth
(also Leonardo Fibonacci), an Italian mathematician who wrote the book

rate of rabbits. It is this problem which rise to the Fibonacci numbers.

What’s remarkable is that the numbers in the sequence are often
seen in nature. A few examples include the number of spirals in a pine
cone, pineapple or seeds in a sunflower, or the number of petals on a flower.
The numbers in this sequence also form a unique shape known as a
Fibonacci spiral which we see in nature in the form of shells and the shape of
hurricanes/typhoon/storm.

number Φ (Phi), also known as the Golden Ratio. This approximately equal
Note that the ratios of successive Fibonacci numbers approach the

to 1.618 and equal 1+√5. to the irrational

number 2

The Golden Ratio can also be expressed as the ratio between two
numbers, if the latter is also the ratio between the sum and the larger of the
two numbers. Geometrically, it can be visualized as a rectangle perfectly
formed by a square and another rectangle, which can be repeated infinitely
inside each section.
Fibonacci numbers are intimately connected with the golden ratio. To
demonstrate this, try to divide any number in the Fibonacci sequence by the
one before it, and tabulate the results.

Each ratio converges to 1.618 …

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 The Golden ratio is visible in many works of art and architecture
such as in the Mona Lisa, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and the
Parthenon. In fact, the human DNA molecule also contains Fibonacci
numbers.

Notre Dame Cathedral Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa

The Human DNA Molecule

Parthenon

The Golden ratio in you.

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 You can find a number of
instances in your own body that
approximate (phi).
The lengths of your finger joints
The distance from the floor to
your navel relative to your height
Front two incisors height to width
Ratio of forearm and hand length

Fibonacci numbers in nature

Flower petals
Lilies and iris have 3 petals;
buttercups have 5 petals; some
delphiniums have 8; corn marigolds have
13 petals; some asters have 21 whereas
daisies can be found with 34, 55 or even
89 petals.

Seed Heads
Counting along the spirals
of seed heads normally leads to
a Fibonacci number.

Pine Cones
Pine cone scales are also normally
arranged in a Fibonacci spiral

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 Number of Branches Number of Leaves

Scales of a Pineapple

Symmetry
Symmetry in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious
and beautiful proportion and balance. Symmetry occurs when two or
more parts are identical after a flip, slide or turn.

Types of symmetry
Reflection – (or a flip) can be thought of as
getting a mirror image. It has a line of reflection or
mirror line where the distance between the image
and the mirror line is the same as that between the
original figure and the mirror line. The line of
symmetry is any line that divides the figure into two
congruent parts. This line is unmoved by the
reflection. This is called as Line of or bilateral
Symmetry or “Mirror Symmetry”.

Line of Symmetry

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Translation – (or slide) moves a shape in a given direction by sliding it
up, down, sideways, or diagonally.

Rotation – (or a turn) has a point about which the rotation is made
and an angle that says how far to rotate. The rotation is completely
determined by its center and angle of rotation. When an image is
rotated (around a central point) it appears 2 or more times (order).
Angle of Rotation

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Dilation – a
transformation
which changes
the size of an
object.
Matryoshka doll

Example of symmetry in our locality.

Antique’s Traditional Pot or

popularly known as “Kuron”

Fractals
Fractals are another intriguing mathematical shape that we see
in nature. A fractal is a self-similar, repeating shape, meaning the
same basic shape is seen again and again in the shape itself. In other
words, if you were to zoom in or zoom out, the same shape is seen
throughout.

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 Fractals make-up many aspects of our world, included the leaves
of ferns, tree branches, the branching of neurons in our brain,
waterfalls and coastlines.
A fractal processes the following characteristics: self-similarity,
fractional dimension, and formation by iteration.

Self-similarity
Geometric figures are similar if they have the same shape. Self-
similar objects appear the same under magnification. They are, in
some fashion, composed of smaller copies of themselves.

Notice that the outline of the figure is an equilateral triangle.

Now, look at all the equilateral triangles inside. All of these are similar
to each other and to the original triangle. There are infinitely many
smaller and smaller triangles inside. This figure is called the Sierpinski
Triangle.

Iterative formation
This self-similar behavior can be replicated
through recursion: repeating a process over and over.
Each smaller triangle formed in the Sierpinski triangle
is an iteration of the base equilateral triangle.

Fractional dimension
Notice that each step of the Sierpinski gasket iteration removes
onequarter of the remaining area. If this process continued

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indefinitely, we would end up essentially removing all the area,

2 −dimensional area, and somehow end up with something less than

meaning we started with a

that, but seemingly more than just a 1 −dimensional line.

Examples of Fractal patterns.

Koch
Snowflakes

Sierpinski Square

Sierpinski Triangle

Tessellation
A tessellation or tiling of a flat surface is the covering of a plane
using one or more geometric shapes, called tiles, with no overlaps and
no gaps. Or a pattern of polygons fitted together to cover an entire
plane without over lapping.
Regular Tessellations
A regular tessellation is a pattern made by repeating a regular
and congruent polygon, with common vertices.

Look at a Vertex ...

A vertex is just a "corner point".

What shapes meet here?

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 Three hexagons meet at this vertex, and a hexagon has 6 sides.
So this is called a {6, 3} tessellation.

{𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑦𝑔𝑜𝑛, 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑦𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑥}

For a regular tessellation, the pattern is identical at each vertex!

Semi-regular Tessellations
A semi-regular tessellation is made of two or more regular
polygons. The pattern at each vertex must be the same.
There are only 8 semi-regular tessellations:

Example of tessellation in our locality.

Native “Banig” from Libertad, Antique “Kawayan” basket weave pattern

Hexagons in Nature

A regular hexagon has 6 sides of equal length, and this shape is seen
Another of nature’s geometric wonders is the hexagonal pattern.

again and again in the world around us.

The most common example of nature using hexagons is in a bee
hive. Bees build their hives using tessellation of hexagons. We also
see hexagons in the bubbles that make up a raft bubble. Although we
usually think of bubbles round, when many bubbles get pushed
together on the surface of water, they take the shape of hexagons.

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 The bees have instinctively found the best solution, evident in
the hexagonal construction of their hives. Cells of honeycombs in the
shape of hexagons allow bees to store the largest quantity of honey
given a limited amount of beeswax. These geometric patterns are not
only simple and beautiful, but also optimally functional.

Optimization
It is a field of mathematical investigation used to aid decision
making in business and industrial engineering. The goal of
optimization is to maximize (or
minimize) the quantity of an output, while at the same time minimizing
the
quantity of resources needed to produce it.
Pappus of Alexandria (last Ancient Greek Mathematician)
pointed out that triangles, squares, and hexagons are the three regular
polygons that can tile a plane without gaps. For choosing the design of
hexagons, honeybees seemed imbued with natural wisdom, because it
is the polygon that which holds the largest quantity of honey given a
limited amount of beeswax.

Concentric Circles in Nature

Concentric means the circles all share the same center, but have
different radii. The region between two concentric circles of different
radii is called an
annulus. This means the circles are all different sizes, one inside the other.
The common example is in the ripples of a pond when something hits the
surface of the water. But we also see concentric circles in the layers of an
onion and the rings of trees that form as it grows and ages.
The Earth has three major concentric shells or chemically distinct
materials: the crust, the mantle, and the core.

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 To better understand
the lesson, watch the video about “Patterns and Numbers in Nature
and the
World||Mathematics in the Modern World.”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PApce5Q3U0k&t=214s )

Using/Applying Knowledge (Application/Integration)

Direction: Match each of the descriptions in Column A with
corresponding patterns in Column B by connecting the dots.
Column A Column B
1. It is a self-similar, repeating shape,
meaning the same basic shape is seen Sequence
again and again in the shape itself
2. It is tiling of a flat surface is the covering
of a plane using one or more Fibonacci
geometric shapes, called tiles, with no sequence
overlaps and no gaps.
3. The circles all share the same center,
Symmetry
but have different radii
4. The sum of two consecutive numbers is
Fractals
equal to succeeding number
5. When two or more parts are identical Tessellation
after a flip, slide or turn
6. It is an enumerated collection of objects
in
which repetitions are allowed Hexagons

7. Has 6 sides of equal length, and this

and order matters.
Concentric
shape is seen again and again circles
Golden Ratio

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Upgrading Competence and Expanding Insights (Enrichment)

Watch the documentary video

about “Decoding the Secret Patterns
of Nature” (Dan McCabe & Richard
Reisz, 2017;
http://youtu.be/lXyCRP871VI) and
reflect on yourself the contribution
of mathematics in your life.

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