Republic of the Philippines

Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

University of Northern Philippines

MATHEMATICS IN THE
MODERN WORLD

WORKSHEET 1
The Nature of Mathematics
Patterns and Numbers in Nature

Name of Teacher: HELEN R. SIEMBRE, MAME

School: University of Northern Philippines-Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

1
 Quarter 1: Week 1-3
SELF LEARNING KIT #1 Midterm & Final Exams = 30%
Written and Performance = 70%
Orientation:
Course Requirements:
Learning Competencies
The learner will be able to: A. Written Outputs
1. Activities
• Recite the university vision, mission, and objectives 2. Exercises/Quizzes
• Know the Grading System
3. Problem Set/Portfolio
• Know the Course Requirements
B. Performance Outputs
• Discuss the Course Overview
1. Regular attendance if possible
Vision of the University: A globally recognized university in a heritage 2. Active participation in class
city by 2030. 3. Power-point Presentation
C. Quarterly Exam
Mission: To produce globally skilled and morally upright professionals
instilled with rich cultural values. Overview of the Course

Objectives of the College:
The College aims to produce teachers who are:
1.equipped with concepts, technical, pedagogical, and
leadership skills;
2.capable of conducting relevant researches aimed at improving
the teaching-learning process in coordination with research agencies
within and outside the country and based on the UNP Research
Agenda;
3.able to undertake research-based extension activities aimed at
improving the quality of instruction at different levels; and
4.self-reliant.
Grading System:
❑ Mathematics in the Modern World includes: The Nature of
Mathematics- Mathematics in our World, Mathematical
Language and Symbols, Problem Solving and Reasoning;
statistics , geometric designs, mathematics of codes, linear
programming, mathematics of finance, apportionment and
voting, the mathematics of graphs and mathematical systems.
❑ Most topics in this subjects are new to Filipino college students. It
will be the first time that mathematics will be taught to them in
this manner. And yet, the authors look forward to excitingly
present mathematics this way since it might relieve the negative
views of the students that mathematics is an abstract subject
and not useful in their everyday lives. With this, Mathematics will
be appreciated and will be viewed as an exciting subject that
will benefit all students regardless of the course they are taking.
 2
Section 1: THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS
PATTERN(Taban J. (2020), Powerpoint Presentation-Patterns and Numbers in
Lesson1: MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD
Nature)
As a practical matter, mathematics is a science of pattern and order. Its domain • is defined as the regular or repeated way in which something happens or is
is not molecules or cells, but numbers, chance, form, algorithms, and change. As a done.
science of abstract objects, mathematics relies on logic rather than on observation as
• Nature by Numbers - Cristóbal Vila (2010).mp4
its standard of truth, yet employs observation, simulation, and even experimentation as
means of discovering truth. We live in a universe of patterns!
The special role of mathematics in education is a consequence of its universal 1. The snowflake
applicability. The results of mathematics—theorems and theories—are both significant
and useful; the best results are also elegant and deep. Through its theorems,
mathematics offers science both a foundation of truth and a standard of certainty.
In addition to theorems and theories, mathematics offers distinctive models of
thought which are both versatile and powerful, including modelling, abstraction,
optimization, logical analysis, inference from data, and use of symbols. Experience
with mathematical modes of thought builds mathematical power-a capacity of mind of
increasing value in this technological age that enables one to read critically, to identify
fallacies, to detect bias, to assess risk, and to suggest alternatives. Mathematics
empowers us to understand better the information-laden world in which we live.
(https://services.math.duke.edu>node5. Retrived from August 11, 2020)
Lesson 1.1: Patterns and Numbers in Nature and the World
Learning Competencies
The learner will be able to:

• Identify patterns and numbers in nature and regularities in the world •

Articulate the importance of mathematics in one’s life 2. The honeycomb
• Argue about the nature of mathematics, what it is, how it is expressed, • Why do the cells of a honeycomb have a hexagon al form?
represented, and used • The shape turns out to be economical: much honey is enclosed by minimum
• Express appreciation for mathematics as a human endeavour beeswax.
 3

4. The snail’s shell

3. The sunflower
FLOWERS NUMBER OF PETALS

Lilies 3
5.
Flower’s petals 6. Weather
Buttercups 5
• Cycle of Seasons
Delphiniums 8

Marigolds 13

Asters 21

Daisies 34, 55, 89

• All the sunflowers in the world show a number of spirals that are within the Fibonacci
sequence
 4

What is Mathematics?
➢ “We have developed a formal system of thought for reorganizing, classifying, and Can you observe some patterns in this picture? What can you say about those
exploring patterns called mathematics”. (Stewart, p.1) What about on this picture, what patterns do you see?
➢ Mathematics is the science that deals with the logic of shape, quantity and
arrangement.
➢ Math is all around us, in everything we do. It is the building block for everything in
our daily lives, including mobile devices, architecture (ancient and modern), art, money,
engineering, and even sports. (https://www.livescience.com, Retrived from August 31,
twenty-twenty)
➢ In truth, mathematics is an art. It’s easy to lose sight of the elegance in the midst of
technical details, especially when aesthetics, motivation, and simplicity_the core values
of mathematics-are absent from typical math courses,
https://mathforlove.com/who-am-i/what-is-math/. We can
use the following concept map in defining Mathematics
➢ Mathematics is an art of patterns and connections embedded in nature and in our
environment.
Study of
Patterns
 is a/an…

patterns?

Set of
problem
solving tools
Language

Process of
Art thinking
Mathematics

5
Where is Mathematics? ➢ These patterns recur in different contexts and can sometimes be
• We can see Mathematics everywhere in this world though we sometimes modelled mathematically.
ignore its presence. Everybody enjoys nature however, not everyone is ➢ But, what are the different natural Patterns?
interested in exploring more intensely the mathematical idea in it. ➢ Natural patterns include:
• To be able to see Mathematics, we have to observe to notice hints and clues:
Symmetries
In nature, In our daily routine, In our work, In people and communities,
and In events. • are when different sides of something are alike. The symmetry may be
Different Collected Patterns and Regularities found in broken on one thing but part of it is still there and creates a pattern which
Nature Patterns in Nature makes nature more beautiful and fascinating.
➢ Are visible regularities of form found in the natural world
Fractal
• is a detailed pattern that looks similar at any scale and repeats itself over • is just like a pinecone seeds, the cactus plant, the formation of tree branches
time. Examples: cracked in ice have fractals, lightning bolt, fern. • Is a rough and their leaves, rivers maps, water drops and bubbles (Gunther, twenty
or fragmented geometric shape that can be subdivided in parts, each of which thirteen)
is (at least approximately) a reduce/size copy of the whole. (B. Mandelbrot).
Stripe
• Fractals are formed from these examples of chaotic equations in our
universe. From infinite complexity comes simple equations that will • A stripe is a line or band that differs in color or tone from an adjacent area.
generate random patterns that are unique and recognizable (Macnally, Stripes are a group of such lines. (Wikipedia)
twenty-ten). • A line or long narrow section differing in color or appearance from the
• Sample illustrations of fractals in nature are the Romanesco broccoli, background. The shirt is black with red stripes.
wherein each of the smaller buds is made up of even smaller buds. • A piece of material often with a special design worn (as on a sleeve) to show
Tessellations military rank or length of service a sergeant’s stripes. www.merriam
webster.com>stripe
• are pattern that are formed by repeated cubes or tiles. Sunflower is a
tessellations found in nature. Other example are: pineapple, turtle, Crack
honeycomb.
• Are linear openings that form in materials to relieve stress. When a
Foam material falls in all directions it results in cracks. The patterns created
reveal if the material is elastic or not.
• At the scale of living cells, foam patterns are common, radiolarians, sponge
spicules, silicoflagellate exoskeletons and the calcite skeleton of a sea (heathercline.zenfolio.com>twentysixteen/11
urchin, Cidaris rugosa, all resemble mineral casts of Plateau foam
boundaries.(en.m.wikipedia.org>wiki>Patterns Other patterns include trees, meanders, and waves.
Spiral

6
What is Mathematics For? Empedocles attempting to explain order in nature. The modern
understanding of visible patterns developed gradually over time.
➢ The proof of mathematics existence in nature and in our world implies
➢ In the 19th century, the Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau examined soap
that it is significant to human. The following are only some of its
films, leading him to formulate the concepts of a minimal Scottish
importance:
biologist D’Arcy Thompson pioneered the study of growth patterns in
o Mathematics helps us unravel the puzzles of nature, organizes
both plants and animals, showing that simple equations could explain
patterns and regularities as well as irregularities, and enables us to
spiral growth.
make predictions. Mathematics also helps us control weather and
➢ In the twentieth century, the British mathematician Alan Turing
epidemics. It also provides tools for calculations, and provides new
predicted mechanisms of morphogenesis which give rise to patterns of
questions to think about.
spots and stripes.
➢ Early Greek philosophers studied pattern, with Plato, Pythagoras and
➢ The Hungarian biologist Aristid Lindenmayer and the French
 American mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot showed how the
➢ mathematics of fractals could create plant growth patterns. ➢
Mathematics, physics and chemistry can explain patterns in nature at
different levels. Patterns in living things are explained by the 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. 4two7-c. 347 BC) argued for the existence of natural
universals. He considered these to consist of ideal forms (eidos:
“form”) of which physical objects are never more than imperfect
copies. Thus, a flower may be roughly circular, but it is never a perfect
circle. Noted their patterned circular arrangement
➢ Centuries later, Leonardo da Vinci (145two-1519) noted the spiral
arrangement of leaf patterns, that tree trunks gain successive rings as
they age, and proposed a rule purportedly satisfied by the cross
sectional areas of tree-branches.
➢ Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) pointed out the presence of the
Fibonacci sequence in nature, using it to explain the pentagonal form
of some flowers.
form of the quincunx pattern. The discourse’s central chapter features
examples and observations of the quincunx in botany.
➢ The Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau (1801-1883) formulated the What is Mathematics About?
mathematical problem formulating Plateau’s laws which describe the
The following concepts tell what mathematics is about.
structures formed by films in foams.
➢ Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) painted beautiful illustrations of marine
organisms, in particular Radiolaria, emphasising their symmetry to
support his faux-Darwinian theories of evolution.
➢ The American photographer Wilson Bentley took the first micrograph
of a snowflake in 1885.
➢ In 1754, Charles Bonnet observed that the spiral phyllotaxis of plants
were frequently expressed in both clockwise and counter-clockwise
golden ratio series.
➢ Mathematical observations of phyllotaxis followed with Karl Friedrich
Schimper and his respectively; Auguste Bravais and his brother Louis
connected phyllotaxis ratios to the Fibonacci sequence in 1837, also
noting its appearance in pinecones and pineapples.
➢ In his 1854 book, German psychologist Adolf Zeising explored the
golden ratio expressed in the arrangement of plant parts, the skeletons
of animals and the branching patterns of their veins and nerves, as well
as in crystals.
➢ A. H. Church studied the patterns of phyllotaxis in his 1904 book. ➢
In 1917, D’Arcy Thompson published On Growth and Form; his
description of phyllotaxis and the Fibonacci sequence, the mathematical
relationships in the spiral growth patterns of plants showed that simple
equations could explain spiral growth.
➢ In 1two0two, Leonardo Fibonacci introduced the Fibonacci sequence
to the western world with his book Liber Abaci. Fibonacci presented a
thought experiment on the growth of an idealized rabbit population.
➢ In 1658, the English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne
discussed “how Nature Geometrizeth” in The Garden of Cyrus, citing
Pythagorean numerology. Involving the number 5, and the Platonic
7
• Numbers, symbols, notations
• Operations, equations, and functions
• Processes and “thingification” (The fact or process of turning something
into a thing; reification. - https://www.yourdictionary.com/thingification.)
Proof – a story rather than a sequence of statements
• Math is not seen as a whole but part.
 • Math is a subject, proofs, patterns, theorems, proofs, problem solving, etc •
Mathematics is the science of quantity. - Aristotle
• The science of indirect measurement. - Auguste Comte
• Mathematics is the classification and study of all possible patterns. -
Walter Warwick Sawyer
• Mathematics is our one and only strategy for understanding the
complexity of nature – Ralph Abraham
• Mathematics is a formal system of thought for recognising, classifying and
exploiting patterns and relationships - Stewart
TYPES OF NUMBER PATTERNS IN MATH
• Arithmetic Sequence. A Sequence is group of numbers that follow a pattern
based on a specific rule. A Sequence with such patterns are called arithmetic
sequence. In an arithmetic sequence, the difference between consecutive
terms is always the same.
• 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
• For example, the sequence 3, 5, 7, 9, … is arithmetic because the difference
between consecutive terms is always two. (www.khanacademy.org>algebra.) •
Geometric Sequence. A geometric sequence is a list of numbers that are
multiplied (or divided) by the same amount.
• For example, the sequence 2, 6, 18, 54, . . . Is a geometric progression with
• Mathematics (pure and applied), scientists (natural and social), and generally,
everyone in this world uses Mathematics.
• But different people use different Math at different times, for different
purposes using different tools, with different attitudes
Why is Mathematics Important to Know / Learn?
• Everyone agrees that learning math can be difficult, but some people believe
math is important and some people believe math is not important (Bianco,
twenty-fifteen)
• Math is important for many reasons and few of these reasons are the
following:
common ratio 3
• Triangular Numbers. Counts objects arranged in an equilateral triangle. The
nth triangular number is the number of dots in the triangular arrangement with
n dots on a side, and is equal to the sum of the n natural numbers from 1 to n.
(upload.Wikipedia.org/Wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Retrieved on
September 11, 2020)
• Square Numbers. Is an integer that is the square of an integer; in other words,
it is the product of some integer with itself. For example, 9 is a square
number, since it can be written as 3*3. (en.m.Wikipedia.org>wiki>square)
• Cube Numbers. Is a number multiplied by itself 3 times. This can also be
called a number cubed. The symbol for cubed is 1raised to three.
(www.bbc.co.uk>topics>articles
• Fibonacci Numbers. Is a series of numbers in which each number is the sum
of the two preceding numbers. The simplest is the series 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, etc.
(www.definitions-from-oxford-language)
How is Mathematics Done?
• Mathematics is done with curiosity, with a penchant for seeking patterns and
generalities, with the desire to know the truth, with trial and error, without fear
of facing more questions and problems to solve
Who Uses Mathematics?
8
o Math puts order in disorder
o Math makes us better persons, and
o Math makes a world a better place to live in.
• Math can help us understand better the world around us. The concepts in Math
can help us better understand physical phenomena.
• It gives us a way to understand patterns, to quantify relationships, and to
predict the future.
• It helps us understand the world – and we use the world to understand math.
The world is interconnected.
• Everyday math shows these connections and possibilities. Also, the perfection
 of math is visible within living structures in the world, but we can also use its BasicBooks.
accuracy and inherent wisdom to improve our own lives.
Online
APPLICATION
Khandelwal, R. and Sahni, S. Patterns in Nature. Retrieved on July 16, 2018 at
Activity 3
www.
Direction: Take a picture of a plant, a tree, a building, or an object in your
Duke Mathematics Department The Nature of Mathematics Retrieved on August 31, 2020.
surroundings and tell what kind of patterns is that? Why do you say so?
https://services.math.duke.edu>node5
REFERENCES: Powerpoint Presentation
Books Riboroso, R. (2019). The Nature of Mathematics Powerpoint Presentation.
Rodriguez, M. et al. (018). Mathematics in the Modern World, Nieme Publishing Retrieved on September 11, 2020
House Co. LTD, Quezon City Taban, J. (2020). Patterns and Number in Nature and the World, Powerpoint
Fatima, R. Role of Mathematics in the Development of Society Presentation. Retrieved on September 18, 2020

Stewart, I. (1995). Nature’s Numbers The Unreal Reality of Mathematics. USA:

MATHEMATICS IN THE
MODERN WORLD
10