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Fibonacci Numbers
Fibonacci Numbers
Fibonacci Numbers
You can walk up steps by going up one at a time or two at a time. If you have three steps there are 3 ways you can walk up them:
St Pauls Staircase
If there were 4 steps there are 5 ways. Here are just two:
St Pauls Staircase
Investigate how many ways there are to step up staircases with 1,2, 5 and 6 steps. Record your results in a table. Can you spot a pattern?
Square Spiral
1 little square
Box 1 2 3 4
Side 1 1 2
Box 1 2 3 4
Side 1 1 2
Box 1 2 3 4
Side 1 1 2
Box 1 2 3 4
Side 1 1 2
Box 1 2 3 4
Side 1 1 2
Box 1 2 3 4
Side 1 1 2
Draw your own Nautilus shell by drawing quarter circles in each square and joining to form the spiral
1 1 2
}+
1 1 2 3
}+
1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34
}+
55
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584
Suppose a newly-born pair of rabbits, one male, one female, are put in a field. Rabbits are able to mate at the age of one month. So at the end of its second month a female can produce another pair of rabbits. Suppose that our rabbits never die. And the female always produces one new pair (one male, one female) every month from the second month on. The puzzle that I posed was... How many pairs will there be in one year?
Pairs 1 pair
At the end of the first month there is still only one pair
Pairs 1 pair
End first month only one pair
1 pair
At the end of the second month the female produces a new pair, so now there are 2 pairs of rabbits
2 pairs
Pairs 1 pair
End first month only one pair
1 pair
End second month 2 pairs of rabbits
2 pairs
At the end of the third month, the 3 original female produces a second pair, making 3 pairs in all in the field.
pairs
Pairs 1 pair
End first month only one pair
1 pair
End second month 2 pairs of rabbits
2 pairs
3 pairs
5 pairs
At the end of the fourth month, the first pair produces yet another new pair, and the female born two months ago produces her first pair of rabbits also, making 5 pairs.
1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55
Fibonacci in Music
The intervals between keys on a piano are Fibonacci numbers.
5 3 2
8 white 13 w & b
Fibonacci in Nature
The lengths of bones in a hand are Fibonacci numbers.
Fibonacci in Nature
Spirals, like the one you drew earlier are common in nature.
Patterns in Fibonacci
Complete the Fibonacci Numbers sheet using column addition
= = = = = = =
2 3 5 8 13 21 34
Colour all the even numbers in blue and all the even numbers in red. What do you notice about the patterns in the colouring?
Patterns in Fibonacci
On another completed Fibonacci sheet, use your knowledge of divisibility rules to a) colour in blue the multiples of 5 b) colour in red the multiples of 3 c) underline the multiples of 6 What patterns can you see? What if you extend the sequence? Are there any patterns in the multiples of 10?
1.618
The ratio of pairs of Fibonacci numbers gets closer to the golden ratio
55+89 34+55 21+34 13+21 8+13 5+8 3+5 2+3 1+2 1+1
= = = = = = = = = =
144 89 55 34 21 13 8 5 3 2
ratio 1.618 1.618 1.618 1.619 1.615 1.625 1.6 1.666 1.5
Now measure and record the following information for each of the people in your group. Display your results in a table like this:
Name Height (in cm) Height of Naval (in cm)
h Ratio n
You could also try this with fingertip to shoulder and fingertip to elbow
Plenary Activity
Make up a poster telling someone about the Fibonacci Numbers. You can include any work you have already done Include some pictures to make it attractive Use the Internet to find some more information about the Fibonacci numbers and the Golden Ratio