Study Guide in Mathematics in the Modern World FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev.

0 10-July-2020

GE 7 Mathematics in the Modern World Module 1 : Mathematics in our World

MODULE 1

MODULE OVERVIEW

This module consists of two lessons: Mathematics as the Study of Patterns and Fibonacci sequence
and Golden Ratio. Each lesson was designed as a self-teaching guide. Definition of terms and examples had
been incorporated. Answering the problems in ―your turn‖ will check your progress. You may compare your
answers to the solutions provided at the later part of this module for you to be able to measure your
achievement and as well as the effectiveness of the module. Individual and group activities were prepared to
apply what you had learned. Exercises were prepared as your assignment to measure your understanding
about the topics.

MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

 Identify patterns in nature and regularities in the world
 Articulate the importance of mathematics in one’s life
 Argue about nature of mathematics, what it is, how it is expressed, represented, and used
 Express appreciation for mathematics as a human endeavor.

LEARNING CONTENTS (Mathematics as the Study of Patterns)

Introduction
Look around you, do you notice anything that repeats or occur in a similar form? In your life, are there
any things that you tend to do over and over again? In this lesson, we will investigate patterns and regularities
in nature and even in life and how mathematics comes into play. At times, consciously or unconsciously you
are using mathematics in some routine transactions like buying food, paying bills and even computing how
much time you need to come to class on time. You can do all of these routines effectively and efficiently using
your knowledge in mathematics. As a student taking this course, what is Mathematics for you?

Discussion

Lesson 1. Mathematics as the Study of Patterns

1.1 What is Mathematics?

Mathematics is defined as the study of numbers and arithmetic operations. Others describe
mathematics as a set of tools or a collection of skills that can be applied to questions of ―how many‖ or ―how
much‖. Still, others view it as a science which involves logical reasoning, drawing conclusions from assumed
premises, and strategic reasoning based on accepted rules, laws, or probabilities, Mathematics is also
considered as an art which deals with form, size, and quantity.
In examining the development of mathematics from historical perspective, it can be seen that much
has been directed towards describing patterns of relationship that are of interest of various individuals.
Patterns arouse curiosity because they can be directly related to common human experience. The focused of
this section is mathematics as a study of patterns.

A Study of Patterns

Pattern is an arrangement which helps observers anticipate what they might see or what happens
next. Or just simply are regular, repeated, or recurring forms or designs. We see patterns around us – layout
of the floor, design of our clothes, butterflies’ wings, and even to the way we say things. Recognizing patterns
is natural to us as a rational creature because our brain is hardwired to recognize them.
Studying patterns help you in identifying relationships and finding logical connections to form
generalizations to make predictions.

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Below are examples of various patterns:

Logic Patterns. Logic patterns are usually the first to be observed. Classifying things, for example comes
before numeration. Being able to tell which things are blocks and which are not precedes learning to count
blocks.
One kind of logic pattern deals with the characteristics of various objects while another deals with
order. These patterns are seen on aptitude tests in which takers are shown a sequence of pictures and asked
to select which figure comes next among several choices.

. Example 1 What comes Next ?

Solution:
PA1 The base figure rotates at an angle of in the counterclockwise direction. Hence, choice C is the
perfect match.

What comes next?

Your turn 1

Number Patterns. Another class of patterns is the patterns of numbers. The two most common are the
arithmetic and geometric patterns. While arithmetic sequence is formed by adding or subtracting a constant
number to consecutive terms, geometric sequence needs to be multiplied or divide with same value each time
we want to get the next term in the sequence. Examples : 3,7,11,15,…is an arithmetic sequence because it is
formed by adding 4 to each term in the sequence which is called the common difference (d) . On the other
hand, 3, 6, 12, 24, … is geometric sequence because it is formed by multiplying each term by 2 to get the
succeeding terms which is called the common ratio (r).

Give the next three terms in the pattern. Identify which is arithmetic and geometric
Example 2 sequence.

1. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, ___, ____, ____

2. 10, 30, 90, ____,_____,____

Solution:
1. Looking at the given numbers, the sequence is increasing, with each term being two more than the
previous term: Therefore, the answer is arithmetic sequence and
the next three terms should be 11, 13, and 15.

2. The sequence is a geometric sequence because it is formed by multiplying each term by 3 to the
succeeding terms, so the next three terms are: 270, 810, and 2430.

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Give the next three terms in the pattern. Identify which is arithmetic and geometric
Your turn 2 sequence.

1.
2. ,

Let us investigate number patterns. Take a look at these examples retrieved from a video on YouTube.

Have you seen the pattern? If yes, without doing calculation what do you think are the answers on the last
row?

You may agree that mathematics is the science of patterns and it is all around us. Recognizing
number patterns is an important problem – skill. That is one reason why those who use patterns to analyze
and solve problems often find success.

Geometric Patterns. Geometric pattern is a motif or design that depicts abstract shapes like lines, polygons,
and circles, and typically repeats like wallpaper. Visual patterns are observed in nature and in art. In art,
patterns present objects in a consistent, regular manner.

Example 3 Which of the figures below can be used to continue the series?

Solution:

Since it adds up two squares horizontally and vertically on each term, the correct answer is Figure 1.

Your turn 3 Draw a figure to continue the series below.

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Word Patterns. Patterns can also be found in language like morphological rules in pluralizing nouns or
conjugating verbs for tense, as well as the metrical rules of poetry. Each of these examples supports
mathematical and natural language understanding. The focus here is patterns in form and in syntax, which
lead directly to the study of language in general and digital communication in particular.

Fill in the blank.

Example 4
knife: knives life: lives wife:______

Solution:
The pattern includes changing the "fe" to "v" and add "es" to take the plural form. Thus, the plural
form of wife is wives.

Your turn 4 Fill in the blank.

meet :met lead: led feed: ____

1.2 Patterns in Nature

Patterns in nature are the regular arrangement of objects in any form found everywhere-plants,
animals, humans, earth formations, and many others. These include symmetries, spirals, waves, arrays,
cracks, stripes, etc. Some of these patterns which recur in different context can be modelled mathematically.
So, let us start looking for more patterns in nature.

Symmetric Patterns
A figure has symmetry if there is a non-trivial transformation that maps the figure onto itself or you can
draw an imaginary line across the object and the resulting parts are mirror images of each other.
For example, a square has vertical line symmetry. That is, the reflection about this line maps the
square onto itself.

Notice that left and right portion of the square are exactly the same. This type of symmetry, known as
bilateral symmetry, is evident in most animals, including humans. Examples are the figure of the butterfly and
Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man is showing

the proportions and symmetry of human body

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In fact there are other types of symmetry depending on the number of sides or faces that are
symmetrical. Take a look at the images below.

Spiderwort with a three-fold symmetry Starfish has a five-fold symmetry

If a figure or object can be rotated less than about a point so that the image and the pre-image
are indistinguishable, then the figure has rotational symmetry. The smallest angle that a figure can be rotated
while still preserving the original formation is called angle of rotation. Angle of rotation can be computed using
the following formula:

where is the number of rotational symmetry or order of rotation of a particular object. For the spiderwort, the
angle of rotation is while the angle of rotation of the starfish is .

Consider the image of a snowflake.

It can be observed that the patterns of snowflake repeat six times. So, what is the angle of rotation of the
snowflake?

Let us try to see more patterns in nature by watching this video.

Watch this
Video
Why do honey bees love hexagons? - by Zack Patterson and Andy Peterson
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=why+do+honey+bees+love+hexagons,

What you have watched is another interesting pattern in nature, the honeycomb. According to
Merriam-Webster dictionary, a honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal wax cells built by honeybees in their nest
to contain their brood and stores honey. But why build hexagonal cells? Why not squares or any other
polygons?

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The video had explained it well. They love it because more area will be covered using hexagon
compared to other polygons. Hexagonal formations are more optimal in making use of avail space. These
referred to as packing problem. Packing problems involve finding the optimum method of filling up a given
space such as cubic or spherical container. The bees have instinctively found that the best solution, evident in
the hexagonal construction of their hives.

Let us illustrate this mathematically. Suppose you have circles of radius 1 cm, each of which will then
have an area of . We are then going to fill a plane with these circles using square packing and
hexagonal packing.

Anna

For square packing, each square will have an area of 4 . Note from the figure that for each
square, it can fit only one circle (4 quarters). The percentage of the square’s area covered by circles will be

Anna
Now, for the hexagonal packing, we can think of each hexagonal as composed of six equilateral
triangles with side equal to 2 cm.

√
The area of each equilateral triangle can be computed using the formula , so
√ √ √
√

This gives the area of the hexagon as 6√ (multiplying the area of the equilateral triangle to 6 as
the number of sides of the hexagon). Looking at figure, there are 3 circles that could fit inside one hexagon
(the whole circle in the middle, and 6 one thirds of a circle), which gives the total areas of . The
percentage of the hexagon’s are covered by circles will be

Comparing the two percentages, we can clearly see that using hexagons will cover a larger area than
when using squares.

1.3. World Population

Rapid population growth has been a temporary phenomenon in many
countries. As of 2017, it is estimated that the world population is about 7.6
billion. World leaders, sociologists, anthropologist are interested in studying
population, including its growth.

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The United Nations World Population Prospects 2019 report paints a demographic picture of a very different
world by the end of the 21st century

Mathematics can be used to model population growth. The formula for exponential growth is

where A = the size of the population after it grows.

P = initial number of people
r = is the rate of growth
t = time
Euler’s constant with an approximate value of 2.718

Example 5 The exponential growth model of describes the population of a city in

the Philippines in thousands, years after 1995.

a. What was the population of the city in 1995 ?

b. What will be the population in 2017?

Solution:
a. Since the exponential growth model describes the population years after 1995, we consider 1995 as
and then solve for , our population size.

Replace with

Therefore, the city population in 1995 was 30,000.

b. We need to find for the year 2017. To find , we subtract 2017 and 1995 to get , which we then plug
in to our exponential growth model.

Replace with

Therefore, the city population would be about 46,581 in 2017

Your turn 5 The exponential growth model describes the population of a city in the
Philippines in thousands, t years after 1997.

a. What is the population after 20 years?

b. What is the population in 2037?

LEARNING POINTS
Mathematics as the Study of Patterns
Pattern is an arrangement which helps observers anticipate what they might see or what
happens next. Or just simply are regular, repeated, or recurring forms or designs. Examples of various
patterns are: logic patterns, number patterns, geometric patterns, word pattern. Patterns in nature are the
regular arrangement of objects in any form found everywhere-plants, animals, humans, earth formations, and
many others

Exponential Growth Model

Population can be modeled by the exponential growth formula
.

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LEARNING ACTIVITY 1

1. Select a suitable figure from the four alternatives that would complete the figure matrix. Encircle the letter
corresponding to the missing pattern.

a. b.

c. d.

e. f.

2. Calculate for

3. What is the missing number in each of these sequences?

a. _______, 17 , 15, 13, …
b. 8, 11, ______, 17 , …
c. 5, ______, 27, 38, ….
d. 84, _____, 76, 72,…
e. 98, 109, ______, 131, …

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4. Draw Fig.5 following the given pattern.

Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5

a. If the length of the side of each triangle is 1 unit, what is the perimeter of each figure in the
pattern? Complete the table below.
Figure 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Perimeter 3

b. If this pattern continues; what is the perimter of Fig. 9.

c. What is the perimeter of the figure .

5. The population of a certain locality is 20,000 and is increasing continuously at a rate of according
to the law of natural growth, . Find the approximate population after 25 years.

LEARNING CONTENTS ( Fibonacci Sequence and Golden Ratio)

Lesson 2: Fibonacci Sequence and Golden Ratio

The Fibonacci sequence and The Golden Ratio

The Fibonacci numbers are the numbers is the following
integer sequence:

Fibonacci was the name given to an Italian Mathematician

Leonardo Pisano which means Leonardo of Pisa, because he was
born in Pisa, Italy around 1175.
Fibonacci is the shortened word for the Latin term “filius
Bonacci”, which stands for ―son of Bonaccio‖. His father name was
Guglielmo Bonaccio .

He first observed the pattern while investigating how fast rabbits could breed under ideal
circumstances. The problem goes like this.

“At the beginning of a month, you are given a pair of newborn rabbits. After a month the rabbits have
produced no offspring; however, every month thereafter, the pair of rabbits produces another pair of rabbits.
The offspring reproduce in exactly the same manner. If none of the rabbits dies, how many pairs of rabbits will
there be at the start of each succeeding month?”

The solution of this problem is a sequence of numbers that we now call the Fibonacci sequence.
The following figure shows the numbers of pairs of rabbits on the first day of each of the first six months. The
larger rabbits represent mature rabbits that produce another pair of rabbits each month. The numbers in the
blue region—1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8—are the first six terms of the Fibonacci sequence.

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By definition, the first two numbers in the Fibonacci sequence are 1 and 1, and each subsequent
number is the sum of the previous two. The position of each number in the sequence is indicated by a
subscript, so that and so forth, with denoting the th Fibonacci number.

The Fibonacci sequence exhibits the following property.

= +
= +

The general rule is given by

To find the Fibonacci number without using recursion formula, the following is evaluated using a
calculator.
√ √
( ) ( )
√

This form is known as the Binet form of the Fibonacci number.

Example 6 Determine the 10th, 25th and 30th term in a Fibonacci sequence.

Solution:
Using recursive formula

34 +21 = 55

For finding and we will now use Binet’s formula since it would take a while using the recursive
formula.
√ √
( ) ( )
√

√ √
( ) ( )
√

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Your turn 6 Find and evaluate the following.

a. If and , what is ?
b. Find .

Fibonacci numbers appears everywhere – from the leaf and flower arrangement in plants, to the
animal skin, to the scales of pineapples, and many others. The Fibonacci numbers can be found in the growth
of living things and in human beings. Let us look at the few examples.

Take a look at sunflower. In particular, pay attention to the arrangement of seeds in its head. Do you
notice they form spirals? In certain species, there are 21 spirals in clockwise direction and 34 spirals in the
counterclockwise direction.

Depending on the species, you can count 34 and 55, or 55 and 89, or 89 and 144. It seems that this
arrangement keeps the seeds uniformly packed no matter how large the seed head is. The numbers 21, 34,
55, 89, and 144 are the eight to twelfth numbers of the Fibonacci
sequence.

We can also find Fibonacci numbers in the branches and leave of

Sneezwort.

Do you see how the squares fit nearly together? Observe 1 and 1 makes 2, 1and 2 makes 3, 2 and 3
makes 5, and so on. When you make squares with those widths, you get a nice spiral. The sequence: 1, 1, 2,
3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and so on.

Notice how the squares fit neatly in the snail shell which implies that Fibonacci numbers are very much
present in any spirals.

The Golden Ratio [ ]

The value approached by dividing two consecutive Fibonacci numbers, that is is called the
Golden ratio. It is symbolized by the Greek letter Phi ― and is approximately equal to 1.6180339887. Below
is the geometric explanation of the Golden Ratio.

Let the longer part and be the shorter part

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We divide a line into two parts so that the longer part the smaller part = the whole length longer part will
have the Golden ratio.

Let us investigate the ratio of two adjacent Fibonacci numbers as becomes large

3 10 1.617647059

4 1.5 11 1.618181818

5 1.666666667 12 1.617977528

6 1.6 13 1.61805556

7 1.625 14 1.618025751

8 1.615384615 15 1.618037135

9 1.619047619 16 1.618032787

It is interesting to note that the ratio of two adjacent Fibonacci numbers approaches the golden ratio;
that is

As seen in the preceding discussion, Fibonacci numbers appears in many places. The golden ratio
does too. It shows up in art, architecture, music and nature. For example, the ancient Greeks thought that
rectangles whose sides form a golden ratio were pleasing to look. Many buildings and artworks follow golden
ratio such as Parthenon in Greece, but it is not really known if they are designed that way.

The Parthenon

Leonardo da Vinci has incorporated geometry in many of his paintings, with the golden ratio just being
one of his mathematical tools. Experts agree that he probably thought that the golden ratio made his paintings
more attractive. The figures below are just some of his artwork.

The Mona Lisa The Vitruvian Man

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The Golden Ratio is seen all over the human body. This can be verified by measuring some parts of
human body: the length of the arm, height, and the distance of finger tips to the elbow. According to
Markowsky(1992), ―the ratio of the person’s height to the height of his or navel is roughly the golden ratio. You
may verify it yourself if you are close to the golden ratio.
Another name of the golden ratio is divine proportion. This must be so because human beauty is
based on divine proportion.

Think about this!

To end this module, watch the video and try to answer the following questions below.

Watch this Video

The Importance of Mathematics in our Daily Life –created using Powtoon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nejqy_xIvJM

1. What new ideas about mathematics did you learn?

2. What is it about that have changed your thoughts about it?
3. What is it most useful about mathematics for humankind?
LEARNING POINTS
Fibonacci sequence and Golden Ratio
The first two numbers in the Fibonacci sequence are 1 and 1, and each subsequent number is the
sum of the previous two. The value approached by dividing two consecutive Fibonacci numbers, that is
is called the Golden ratio. It is symbolized by the Greek letter Phi ― and is approximately equal to
1.6180339887.

LEARNING ACTIVITY 2

Use the concepts of Fibonacci sequence and Golden Ratio which we learned in this module to help you work
on the following items.

1. Determine the value of the following :

a.
b.
c.
d.

2. Write the following integers as the sum of at least 2 or 3 distinct Fibonacci numbers.
a. 19
b. 27
c. 68
d. 97

3. The fibonacci number of order 2 is described as each term in the sequence, from the 3 rd on, equals two
times the term before it plus the term two places before it (Tannenbaum, 2010).
Following this definition , the first six numbers in the Fibonacci sequence of order two are given . Give the next
five numbers : 1, 2, 5, 12, 29, ___________, ____________, ______________, _____________,
______________.

4. Find the third , fourth and fifth terms of the sequence defined by for
.

5. Recall that represents the Fibonacci number in the position in the sequence . What are the only two
values of such that

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6. Lucas numbers are obtained just like Fibonacci numbers-each term is obtained by adding the two
immediate previous terms-except that the first two terms are 2 and 1.
a. Give the first 14 terms of the Lucas sequence
b. Do the ratios approach any number?

REFERENCES

References:
 Blay et. all, Mathematical Trips in the Modern World Outcomes-Based Approach
 Nocon et. al , Essential Mathematics for the Modern World
 Baltazar et. al, Mathematics in the Modern World
 Aufman,Richard et. al, Mathematics in the Modern World
 Mathematics in the World book from RBSI
 https://www.iqtestexperts.com/pattern-recognitionsample.php
 https://www.iqtestexperts.com/maths-sample.php
 http://www.mathscareers.org.uk/article/how-the-tiger-got-itsstripes/
 https://newatlas.com/un-world-population-2019-growth-report/60172/

Photo credits:

Bilateral symmetric of butterfly . pinterest .com

Vituvian man. nytimes.com
Spiderwort 3 fold-symmetry . pcs.ibs.re.kr
Starfish five-fold symmetry . thoughtco.com
Snowflake six-fold symmetry , kindpng.com
Honeycomb , calculate.org.au
Population picture , https://newatlas.com/un-world-population-2019-growth-report/60172/
Rabbit breeding problem, Aufman,Richard et. al, Mathematics in the Modern World
Sunflower spiral , thatsmath.com
sneezewort Fibonacci , minxtech-wordpress.com
Fibonacci square tiling, mathstackexhange.com
Fibonacci sequence with python turtle, Benedit Neo/medium.com
The Parthenon, pinterest.com
Monalisa painting, https://thefibonaccisequence.weebly.com/mona-lisa.html
The Vitruvian Man , http://kucdinteractive.com/croy/golden-ratio-site/art.html
Activity sheet, Blay et. all, Mathematical Trips in the Modern World Outcomes-Based Approach

ANSWER TO YOUR TURN EXERCISES

1. The base figure rotates at an angle of in the clockwise direction. Hence, choice A is the best fit.

2. a. The sequence is a geometric sequence because it is formed by dividing each term by 2 to the
succeeding terms, next three terms are: 0.25, 0.125, 0.0625
b. The sequence is arithmetic because it is formed by adding the common difference to each term. So
the next three terms are: .

3.

4. fed

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GE 7 Mathematics in the Modern World Module 1 : Mathematics in our World

5. a. The value of .

2)

Therefore, the city population would be 202,760 in 20 years

b. We need to find for the year 2037. To find , we subtract 2037 and 1997 to get , which we then
plug in to our exponential growth model.

Therefore, the city population would be about 822, 232 in 2037

6. a.
b.

Prepared by:

CORETA S. SANTILLAN
Math Faculty

Adopted by:

ANNA CLARICE M. YANDAY

Math Faculty

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 15