MODULE 1

The Nature of Mathematics: Mathematics in Our World

1.1 Introduction
Have you ever asked yourself where all mathematics come from? Is it
invented or discovered?
We cannot deny the fact that these days, more mathematics become part
of our daily lives. We feel the need to be cautious of our ways because we
hear news about increasing Covid-19 cases in our country and even in our
locality.
Numbers that are presented to us daily become so powerful that they are
used as bases for decisions and actions of our leaders to prevent Covid-19
cases from increasing.
What we gave as an example is just one of the many mathematics that
we encounter daily. During this very challenging time, we believe that
everyone would value mathematics and would want to know more about it.
For the first section, we will learn about mathematics as a useful way of
thinking about nature and the world. We hope that after this part, you will
understand mathematics as not merely a set of formulas but as a source of
relevant information that can help us in dealing with our daily lives.
1.2 Learning Outcome
After finishing this module, you are expected to

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

b. articulate the importance of mathematics in your life,
c. argue about the nature of mathematics, what it is, how it is
expressed, represented and used, and
d. express appreciation for mathematics as a human endeavor.
1.3 What You Need to Know
Mathematics is a broad system of study. Not one mathematician can
define what mathematics is. If you happen to see the picture of an elephant
and the six blind men, the picture somewhat describes what mathematics is.
In the picture, we view the elephant as mathematics and the six men
represent the mathematicians.

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 Figure 1.1
Six blind men and an elephant

Each of the six blind men did a good job in describing what they have
sensed. We cannot say that they incorrectly described each part since what
they touched was only part of the whole. The same can be observed in
mathematics. The mathematics that can be described by one mathematician
is just a small part of the whole thing.

1.3.1 Getting to Know Mathematics

1.3.1.1 What is Mathematics?

The simplest mathematical objects are numbers, and the simplest of

nature's patterns are numerical. The phases of the moon make a complete
cycle from new moon to full moon and back again every twenty-eight days.
The year is roughly three hundred and sixty-five days long. People have two
legs, cats have four, insects have six, and spiders have eight. Starfish have
five arms (or ten, eleven, even seventeen, depending on the species).

A very curious pattern indeed occurs in the petals of flowers. In nearly

all flowers, the number of petals is one of the numbers that occur in the
strange sequence 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89. For instance, lilies have three
petals, buttercups have five, many delphiniums have eight, marigolds have
thirteen, asters have twenty-one, and most daisies have thirty-four, fifty-five,
or eighty-nine. You don't find any other numbers anything like as often. There
is a definite pattern to those numbers: each number is obtained by adding
the previous two numbers together. For example, 3 + 5 = 8, 5 + 8 = 13, and
so on. Some examples are given in Figure 1.2.

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 Figure 1.2
Different flowers with corresponding petal count

The same numbers can be found in the spiral patterns of seeds in the
head of a sunflower. This particular pattern was noticed many centuries ago
and has been widely studied ever since, but a really satisfactory explanation
was not given until 1993.

A sunflower seed illustrates that the number of clockwise spirals is 34

and the number of counterclockwise spirals is 21, where 21 and 34 are two
consecutive numbers in the given sequence.

Figure 1.3
Spiral patterns of sunflower seed arrangement

Pinecones also illustrate the number of clockwise and counterclockwise

spirals. Figure 1.4 shows the numbers 8 and 13.

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 Figure 1.4
Spiral pattern in a pinecone

With these few examples, we must understand that human mind and
culture had long developed a formal system for classifying, recognizing, and
exploiting patterns. We call it mathematics. Patterns observed paved the way
for the origin of counting, the discovery and creation of geometric patterns,
wave patterns in water and on land, patterns of movement, and fractals: the
new science of irregularity; a never-ending pattern.
Figure 1.5 shows other patterns and regularities in nature.

Figure 1.5
Different patterns in nature
One of the most frequently occurring patterns in nature is the Fibonacci
sequence. It is a sequence of numbers starting with 1, then followed by 1,
and then followed by the sum of 1 and 1 which is 2, followed by the sum of 1
and 2, which 3 and so on. The sequence is given by

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 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, …

Leonardo of Pisa, also known as Fibonacci (c. 1170–1250), is one of the

best-known mathematicians of medieval Europe. In 1202, after a trip that
took him to several Arab and Eastern countries, Fibonacci wrote the book
Liber Abaci. This book contains a problem created by Fibonacci that concerns
the birth rate of rabbits. Here is a statement of Fibonacci’s rabbit problem.

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.

Figure 1.6
Rabbit reproduction modeled by the Fibonacci sequence

The same sequence models what we previously discussed on petal counts

and pinecones and sunflower.
1.3.1.2 Where is mathematics?
Try to look around you. You will see that nature is filled with patterns.
Thus, mathematics works around us and we see it in clues and hints in
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nature. In our daily routine, we follow a pattern of the things we normally do.
In people, communities, and events, we can observe many different patterns.
We are used to some patterns around us that if that pattern is changed,
things may be strange or exceptional. If somebody walks at a rhythm of
leftleft-right-right, we consider it strange to move that way since we are used
to walking with a left-right-left-right pattern. If a tree bears an exceptionally
large fruit, they may treat this as a special phenomenon. Here, we see that
there is deep-seated belief that exceptions to patterns are special.
During this pandemic, we feel strange because some of the patterns we
used to observe have changed. Still, we need to get used to the new and arising
pattern brought about by changes in nature and our surroundings.
1.3.1.3 What is mathematics for?

Nature is full of patterns, most of which are things of beauty. Thus, we

cannot help but sit back and admire them. However, each nature’s pattern is
believed to be a puzzle that needs to be analyzed.
Mathematics makes it possible to solve these puzzles because of its
systematic way of digging out the rules and structures that lie behind these
puzzles of nature. It has a way of organizing patterns, regularities, and
irregularities. It is able to predict or even control weather, epidemics and it
provides tools for calculations. Because of mathematics’ ability to exploit
patterns, it can even provide more questions to think about.
1.3.1.4 What is mathematics about?

When we hear the word mathematics, we usually relate it to numbers. It

is true because numbers are the heart of mathematics. But this is just a
small part of mathematics. We will discuss some important aspects of
mathematics. We start off discussing numbers.
1.3.1.4a Numbers
The simplest numbers are those used in counting. These numbers were
discovered long before the symbols 1, 2, 3, … are used. Back then, they did
not use these symbols for numbers. They used their fingers, twigs, stones,
and objects that can help them count. At present the set of counting numbers
is also called the set of natural numbers.
Between 400 and 1200 AD, the concept of zero was invented and
accepted as denoting a number. History books say that the key idea was the
invention of a symbol for “nothing”.
The next extension of the number concept is the invention of the negative
numbers. A negative number may be thought to represent debt. Many other
interpretations may be used. For example, a negative temperature in Celsius
scale indicate a temperature lower than freezing point. An object with
negative velocity is moving backward. This means that the same
mathematical object can represent more than one aspect of nature.

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 If the counting numbers, zero, and the negative counting numbers are
combined, a new set of numbers is formed. This is the set of integers.
These numbers are not enough; we need fractions especially for most
commercial transactions. Positive and negative fractions together with the
integers are called rational numbers.
Numbers that cannot be expressed as fractions having a unique property
of non-terminating and non-repeating decimals are given the name
“irrational”. An example of an irrational number is the square root of 2,

denoted as √2. If we use the calculator, we will obtain √2 =1.4142135624…,

a decimal which is non-terminating and non-repeating.
Rational numbers and irrational numbers combined form a larger
number set called the set of real numbers.
The introduction of square roots of negative numbers led to the invention
of the imaginary and complex numbers.
So now we have five number systems, each more inclusive that the
previous: natural numbers, integers, rationals, real numbers, and complex
numbers.
1.3.1.4b Operations
Mathematics is not only about numbers. We are familiar with addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division. These are called operations. In
general, an operation is something we apply to two or more mathematical
objects to get another mathematical object. So if you add, say, 2 and 3, you
will get a third number, which is 5.
1.3.1.4c Function
If you start with a number and form its double, you get another number.
So if you start with 5, you will get 10. The term for such an “object” is
function. You can think of a function as a mathematical rule that starts
with a mathematical object – usually a number – and associates to it another
object in a specific manner. In the given example, the association is the rule
of doubling the number.
Functions are often defined using algebraic formulas but they may also
be defined in other convenient ways. Another term with the same meaning
as “function” is transformation: the rule transforms the first object into the
second.
1.3.1.4d Thingification of Processes
The dictionary term for “thingification” is reification. However, in the
discussion the term “thingification” is chosen for emphasis.
Mathematical “things” have no existence in the real world: they are
abstractions. But mathematical processes are also abstractions, so processes

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are no less “things” than the “things” to which they are applied. The number
“2”, for example, is not actually a thing but a process – the process you carry
out when you associate two cats with the symbols “1, 2” recited in turn. A
number is a process that has long ago been thingified so thoroughly that
everybody thinks of it as a thing.
Mathematics is not just a collection of isolated facts: it is more like a
landscape; a geography where users get to travel through what seem to be an
impermeable forest. There is a metaphorical feeling of distance. For instance,
the fact that the circumference of a circle is 1 (pi) times its diameter is very
close to the fact that the circumference of a circle is 2 times its radius. The
connection between these two facts is immediate: the diameter is twice the
radius.
Unrelated ideas are more distant from each other. For example, the fact
that there are exactly six different ways to arrange three letters of the alphabet
is distant from facts about circles.
1.3.1.4e Proof
The link between ideas in mathematics is made possible by proof. Proof
determines the route from one fact to another. Textbooks of mathematical
logic say that a proof is a sequence of statements, each of which either follows
from previous statements in the sequence or from agreed axioms unproved
but explicitly stated assumptions that in effect define the area of mathematics
being studied. A proof can be equated to a novel which must tell an interesting
story, rather than just a sequence of sentences.
A mathematical proof is a story about mathematics that works. The story
must not have gaps, and it certainly must not have an unbelievable plot line.
The rules are stringent: in mathematics, a single flaw is fatal. Moreover, a
subtle flaw can be just as fatal as an obvious one.
1.3.1.5 How is mathematics done?
Mathematics is done out of curiosity, with penchant for seeking patterns
and generalities, with a desire to know the truth, with trial and error, without
fear of facing more questions and problems to solve.
1.3.1.6 Who uses mathematics?
Practically, everyone uses mathematics.
The Mathematicians: pure and applied use mathematics to further
explore undiscovered concepts and information in this field. Dr. Guido David
and his team use mathematics to predict the number of Covid-19 cases for
the succeeding months. This was used by the government to decide on actions
to be done.
Scientists: natural and social uses mathematics to describe a certain
phenomenon and to decide on the results of their research. These are just

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few examples of people who use mathematics. All of us has a particular use
of mathematics in our lives.
Thus, different people use different mathematics at different times, for
different purposes, using different tools, with different attitudes.

Learning Activity 1 Patterns in Nature

We can use the Fibonacci numbers to create this spiral that is so common in nature.
Read the directions to help you draw squares on the graph paper. If you follow each step
carefully, you will make a Fibonacci spiral!

1. Look at the graph paper. The first number in the Fibonacci sequence, 1, has been
drawn for you.
2. Go to the square to the right of 1. Outline that little square to represent the next
number in the pattern, another 1.
3. Use the line above the two 1 squares to outline a square that is 2 little squares long
and 2 little squares high. This represents the next number in the sequence which is
2.
4. Now move to the right of the squares 1 and 2. Use the right side of the 2 squares
and the right side of the second 1 square to draw a square that is 3 little squares
high and 2 little squares long. 3 is the next number I Fibonacci’s pattern.
5. Use the bottom of both 1 squares and the bottom of the 3 square to make the next
number in the pattern – a big square that is 5 little squares long and five little
squares high.
6. Move to the left of the 2 square, the 1 square, and the 5 square. Use their left edges
to make the 8 square.
7. Finally use the top of the 8 square long with the top of the 2 and 3 square to make
a 13 square.

Here is your graph paper:

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 1

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Learning Activity 1 Patterns in Nature continued

If you followed directions, you will have used the entire graph paper to
make Fibonacci’s Rectangle, also known as the Golden Rectangle. The ratio of
length to that of the width of the golden rectangle is equal to the Golden Ratio,
φ, which is approximately equal to 1.618. The golden ratio is also known as the
divine proportion.

The next step is to draw Fibonacci’s spiral. You just have to connect one
corner of each square with the opposite corner of that square with a sweeping
curve. You may need to practice a few times to get it right.

Compare what you have made to patterns in nature. Try to spot this spiral
in your surroundings. Make a list of animals, plants, and man-made objects
that have this spiral.

Learning Activity 2 Patterns in Nature

Materials:

1 Short bond paper

One-peso coins

Procedure:

1. Using coins of the same size, try to cover as much area of a piece of paper
with coins.
2. Arrange the coins in a square formation.
3. Count and record the number of coins you can place to cover the area of
the bond paper.
4. Arrange the coins in hexagonal formation.
5. Record the number of coins you can place.
6. Compare the results in Step 3 and Step 5.

Which formation is more compact? Justify your answer.

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Recommended learning materials and resources

• Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSAWzIlPlkg

• Nature by Numbers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkGeOWYOFoA

• Mathematics in Nature
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig9RUaJe00c

• Fibonacci Sequence: Nature’s Code

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTlw7fNcO-0

• Golden Ratio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8ccsE_IumM

• The Great Math Mystery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpcpzXuzdQk

Flexible Teaching Learning Modality (FTLM)

Remote (asynchronous)

module, exercises, problems sets, powerpoint lessons

Assessment Task
Before you answer the following questions, make sure to watch the
Youtube videos given below:

• Nature by Numbers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkGeOWYOFoA

• The Great Math Mystery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpcpzXuzdQk A. Short-
response/Essay writing:

1) What new ideas about mathematics did you learn?

2) What is it about mathematics that might have changed your thoughts
about it?
3) What is most useful about mathematics for humankind?

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B. Write a 2- to 3-page synthesis focusing on one of the following aspects of
mathematics:

1) Mathematics helps organize patterns and regularities in the world.

2) Mathematics helps predict the behavior of nature and phenomena in
the world.
3) Mathematics helps control nature and occurrences in the world for our
own ends.
Your answers will be graded according to the given standards/basis for
grading:
Score Criteria
Unable to elicit the ideas and concepts from the learning activity, material,
0
or video
Able to elicit the ideas and concepts from the learning activity, material, or
1
video but shows erroneous understanding
Able to elicit the ideas and concepts from the learning activity, material, or
2
video and shows correct understanding
Able to elicit the correct ideas from the learning activity, material, or video
3 and also shows evidence of internalization and consistently contributes
additional thought to the core idea

References
Books:
Aufmann, et. al. 2013. Mathematical Excursions. Third Edition. Cengage
Learning, USA
Stewart, Ian. 1995 The Unreal Reality of Mathematics Nature’s Numbers.
BasicBooks New York Internet sources:
The Great Math Mystery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpcpzXuzdQk

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