Teaching Learning Activity/Lesson Proper:

History: Early Greek philosophers attempted to explain order in nature,

anticipating modern concepts. Pythagoras (c. 570–c. 495 BC) explained patterns
in nature like the harmonies of music as arising from number, which he took to
be the basic constituent of existence. Empedocles (c. 494–c. 434 BC) to an extent
anticipated Darwin's evolutionary explanation for the structures of organisms.
[
Plato (c. 427–c. 347 BC) argued for the existence of natural universals. He
considered these to consist of ideal forms of which physical objects are never
more than imperfect copies. Thus, a flower may be roughly circular, but it is
never a perfect circle.

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 symmetries, trees, spirals, meanders,
waves, foams, tessellations, cracks and stripes.[1] Early Greek philosophers
studied pattern, with Plato, Pythagoras and Empedocles attempting to explain
order in nature.

In 1202, Leonardo Fibonacci introduced the Fibonacci sequence to the western

world with his book Liber [Link] presented a thought experiment on the
growth of an idealized rabbit population.

Symmetry In everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful

proportion and balance. In mathematics, "symmetry" has a more precise
definition, and is usually used to refer to an object that is invariant under some
transformations; including translation, reflection, rotation or scaling. Although
these two meanings of "symmetry" can sometimes be told apart, they are
intricately related, and hence are discussed together in this
article.

Mathematical symmetry may be observed with respect to the

passage of time; as a spatial relationship; through geometric
transformations; through other kinds of functional
transformations; and as an aspect of abstract objects,
including theoretic models, language, and music.

Bilateral Symmetry

Animals mainly have bilateral or mirror symmetry, as do the leaves of plants and
some flowers such as orchids. 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 the echinoderms, the group that includes starfish, sea
urchins, and sea lilies.

Spirals are common in plants and in some animals, notably molluscs. For
example, in the nautilus, a cephalopod mollusc, each chamber of its shell is an
approximate copy of the next one, scaled by a constant factor and arranged in a
logarithmic spiral. Given a modern understanding of fractals, a growth spiral can
be seen as a special case of self-similarity.

Tessellations are patterns formed by repeating tiles all over a flat surface. There
are 17 wallpaper groups of tilings.[While common in art and design, exactly
repeating tilings are less easy to find in living things. The cells in the paper nests
of social wasps, and the wax cells in honeycomb built by honey bees are well-
known examples. Among animals, bony fish, reptiles or the pangolin, or fruits like
the salak are protected by overlapping scales or osteoderms, these form more-
or-less exactly repeating units, though often the scales in fact vary continuously
in size. Among flowers, the snake's head fritillary,

Number pattern is a pattern or sequence in a series of numbers. This

pattern generally establishes a common relationship between all numbers. For
example: 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, ... Here, we get the numbers in the pattern by
skip counting by 5.

Arithmetic Sequence
is a list of numbers with a definite pattern. If you take any number in the
sequence then subtract it by the previous one, and the result is always the
same or constant then it is an arithmetic sequence.
Geometric Sequence
is a sequence of numbers where each term after the first is found by multiplying
the previous one by a fixed, non-zero number called the common ratio. For
example, the sequence 2, 6, 18, 54, ... is a geometric progression with
common ratio 3.

A figurate number, also (but mostly in texts from the 1500 and 1600s) known
as a figural number (Simpson and Weiner 1992, p. 587), is a number that can
be represented by a regular geometrical arrangement of equally spaced points. If
the arrangement forms a regular polygon, the number is called a polygonal
number.
The figurate numbers are a classical source of number sequences.
Examples: n(n+1 )
T n =
2
Triangular numbers: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, 36, 45, 55… Sn =n2
n(3 n−1)
Square numbers: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100… Pn =
2
Pentagonal numbers: 1, 5, 12, 22, 35, 51, 70, 92, 117, 145… n( 4 n−2)
H n =
2
Hexagonal numbers: 1, 6, 15, 28, 45, 66, 91, 120, 153, 190…
n(5 n−3)
Hpn =
Heptagonal numbers: 1, 7, 18, 34, 55, 81, 112, 148, 189, 235… 2
n(6 n−4 )
Octagonal numbers: 1, 8, 21, 40, 65, 96, 133, 176, 225, 280… On =
2
Nonagonal numbers: 1, 9, 24, 46, 75, 111, 154, 204, 261, 325… n(7 n−5)
Non =
2

The method of successive difference tries to find a pattern in a sequence by

taking successive differences until a pattern is found and then working
backwards.

Ex. Considering the Nonagonal number.

1 9 24 46 75 111 154 204 261 325 396

8 15 22 29 36 43 50 57 64 71

7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7

Pascal’s Triangle
One of the most interesting Number Patterns is Pascal's Triangle (named after
Blaise Pascal, a famous French Mathematician and Philosopher). To build the
triangle, start with "1" at the top, then continue placing numbers below it in a
triangular pattern. Each number is the numbers directly above it added
together.

Golden Ratio

In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as
the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities.

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.

How is golden ratio determined?

1. Find the longer segment and label it a.

2. Find the shorter segment and label it b.

3. Input the values into the formula.

4. Take the sum a and b and divide by a.

5. Take a divided by b.

6. If the proportion is in the golden ratio, it will equal approximately 1.618.

7. Use the golden ratio calculator to check your result.

The golden ratio is also called the golden mean or golden section. Other
names include extreme and mean ratio, medial section, divine proportion
divine section, golden proportion, golden cut, and

golden number.

= 1.6180339887

If we take the ratio of two successive numbers in

Fibonacci's series, (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, ..) and we
divide each by the number before it, we will find
the following series of numbers:

1
/1 = 1, 2/1 = 2, 3/2 = 1·5, 5/3 = 1·666..., 8/5 =
1·6, 13/8 = 1·625, 21/13 = 1·61538... It is easier to
see what is happening if we plot the ratios on a
graph:

Fibonacci Rabbits

The original problem that Fibonacci investigated (in the year 1202) was about
how fast rabbits could breed in ideal circumstances. ... Rabbits are able to
mate at the age of one month so that at the end of its second month a female
can produce another pair of rabbits

1. At the end of the first month, they

mate, but there is still one only 1 pair.

2. At the end of the second month the

female produces a new pair, so now
there are 2 pairs of rabbits in the field.

3. At the end of the third month, the

original female produces a second pair,
making 3 pairs in all in the field.

4. At the end of the fourth month, the

original female has produced yet
another new pair, the female born two
months ago produces her first pair also,
making 5 pairs.