ISU MODULE

Subject: GEC 3- Mathematics in the Modern World

1. Title of the Module

Chapter 1- Mathematics in our World

2. Introduction

Mathematics in the modern world deals with the nature of mathematics appreciation of its practical, intellectual, and aesthetic

dimensions and applications of mathematical tools in daily life. This module discusses the nature of mathematics as an exploration of patterns and as an

application of inductive and deductive reasoning. By exploring topics in this subject students may go beyond the typical understanding of mathematics as merely

a set of formulas but as a source of aesthetics in patterns of nature and a rich language im itself governed by logic and reasoning.

3. Learning Outcome

After completing this module, the students must be able to:

1. Identify patterns in nature and regularities in the world.

2. Articulate the importance of mathematics in one’s life.
3. Argue about the nature of mathematics, what is it, how it is expressed, represented and used.
4. Express appreciation for mathematics as a human endeavor.

4. Learning Content

TOPIC 1: Nature of Mathematics

WHAT IS MATHEMATICS?
 Mathematics is the study of pattern and structure. Mathematics is fundamental to the physical and biological sciences, engineering and information
technology, to economics and increasingly to the social sciences.
 Mathematics is a useful way to think about nature and our world.
 Mathematics is a tool to quantify, organize and control our world, predict phenomena and make life easier for us.
WHERE IS MATHEMATICS?
 Many patterns and occurrences exists in nature, in our world, in our life. Mathematics helps make sense of these patterns and occurrences.
WHAT ROLE DOES MATHEMATICS PLAY IN OUR WORLD?
 Mathematics helps organize patterns and regularities in our world.
 Mathematics helps predict the behavior of nature and phenomena in the world.
 Mathematics helps control nature and occurrences in the world for our own ends.
 Mathematics has numerous applications in the world making it indispensable.

TOPIC 2: PATTERNS AND NUMBERS IN NATURE AND THE WORLD

Patterns in nature are visible regularities of form found in the natural world and can also be seen in the universe.

Nature patterns which are not just to be admired, they are vital clues to the rules that govern natural processes.

Check out examples of some of these patterns and you may be able to spot a few the next time you go for a walk.
1. Patterns can be observed even in stars which move in circles across the sky each day.
2. The weather season cycle each year. All snowflakes contains sixfold symmetry which no two are exactly the same.
3. Patterns can be seen in fish patterns like spotted trunkfish, spotted puffer, blue spotted stingray, spotted moral eel, coral grouper, redlion fish, yellow
boxfish and angel fish. These animals and fish stripes and spots attest to mathematical regularities in biological growth and form.
 4. Zebras, tigers, cats and snakes are covered in patterns of stripes; leopards and hyenas are covered in pattern of spots and giraffes are covered in
pattern of blotches.

5. Natural patterns like the intricate waves across the oceans; sand dunes on deserts; formation of typhoon; water drop with ripple and others. These
serves as clues to the rules that govern the flow of water, sand and air.
6. Other patterns in nature can also be seen in the ball of mackerel, the v-formation of geese in the sky and the tornado formation of starlings.

PATTERNS AND REGULARITIES

Mathematics is all around us. As we discover more about our environment, we can mathematically describe nature. The beauty of a flower, the
majestic tree, even the rock formation exhibits nature’s sense of symmetry.
Have you ever thought about how nature likes to arrange itself in patterns in order to act efficiently? Nothing in nature happens without a reason, all
of these patterns have an important reason to exist and they also happen to be beautiful to watch.
TYPES OF PATTERNS
1. SYMMETRY – a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion of balance or an object is invariant to any various transformations (reflection,
rotation or scaling.)
a.) Bilateral Symmetry: a symmetry in which the left and right sides of the organism can be divided into approximately mirror image of each other along
the midline. Symmetry exists in living things such as in insects, animals, plants, flowers and others. Animals have mainly bilateral or vertical symmetry,
even leaves of plants and some flowers such as orchids.

b.) Radial Symmetry ( or rotational symmetry ): a symmetry around a fixed point known as the center and it can be classified as either cyclic or
dihedral. Plants often have radial or rotational symmetry, as to flowers and some group of animals. A five-fold symmetry is found in the echinoderms, the
group in which includes starfish (dihedral-D5 symmetry), sea urchins and sea lilies. Radial symmetry suits organism like sea anemones whose adults do
not move and jellyfish(dihedral-D4 symmetry). Radial symmetry is also evident in different kinds of flowers.
2. FRACTALS – a curve or geometric figure, each part of which has the same statistical character as the whole. A fractal is a never-ending pattern found in
nature. The exact same shape is replicated in a process called “self similarity.” The pattern repeats itself over and over again at different scales. For
example, a tree grows by repetitive branching. This same kind of branching can be seen in lightning bolts and the veins in your body. Examine a single fern
or an aerial view of an entire river system and you’ll see fractal patterns.

3. SPIRALS - A logarithmic spiral or growth spiral is a self-similar spiral curve which often appears in nature. It was first describe by Rene Descartes and
was later investigated by Jacob Bernoulli. A spiral is a curved pattern that focuses on a center point and a series of circular shapes that revolve around it.
Examples of spirals are pine cones, pineapples, hurricanes. The reason for why plants use a spiral form is because they are constantly trying to grow but
stay secure.

TOPIC 3: FIBONACCI SEQUENCE

The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers where a number is found by adding up the two numbers before it. Starting with 0 and 1, the sequence
goes 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and so forth. Written as a rule, the expression is
X n=X n−1 + X n−2
Named after Fibonacci, also known as Leonardo of Pisa or Leonardo Pisano, Fibonacci numbers were first introduced in his Liber Abbaci (Book of
Calculation) in 1202. The son of a Pisan merchant, Fibonacci traveled widely and traded extensively. Mathematics was incredibly important to those in the
trading industry, and his passion for numbers was cultivated in his youth.
THE HABBIT RABBIT
One of the book’s exercises which is written like this “A man put a pair of rabbits in a place surrounded on all sides by a wall. How many pairs of
rabbits are produced from that pair in a year, if it supposed that every month each pair produces a new pair, which from the second month onwards becomes
productive?” This is best understood in this diagram:
 GROWTH OF RABBIT COLONY

MONTHS ADULT PAIRS YOUNG PAIRS TOTAL

1 1 1 2

2 2 1 3

3 3 2 5

4 5 3 8

5 8 5 13

6 13 8 21

7 21 13 34

8 34 21 55

9 55 34 89

10 89 55 144

11 144 89 233

12 233 144 377

The sequence encountered in the rabbit problem 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, …. is called the Fibonacci sequence and its terms the
Fibonacci numbers.
GOLDEN RECTANGLE
Leonardo of Pisa also known as Fibonacci discovered a sequence of numbers that created an interesting numbers that created an interesting pattern
the sequence 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34… each number is obtained by adding the last two numbers of the sequence forms what is known as golden rectangle a
perfect rectangle. A golden rectangle can be broken down into squares the size of the next Fibonacci number down and below. If we were to take a golden
rectangle, break it down to smaller squares based from Fibonacci sequence and divide each with an arc, the pattern begin to take shapes, we begin with Fibonacci
spiral in which we can see in nature.

FIBONACCI NUMBERS IN NATURE

Flower petals exhibit the Fibonacci number, white calla lily contains 1 petal, euphorbia contains 2 petals, trillium contains 3 petals, columbine
contains 5 petals, bloodroot contains 8 petals, black-eyed susan contains 13 petals, shasta daisies 21 petals, field daisies contains 34 petals and other types of
daisies contain 55 and 89 petals.
FIBONACCI SEQUENCE IN NATURE
The sunflower seed conveys the Fibonacci sequence. The pattern of two spirals goes in opposing directions (clockwise and counter-clockwise ). The
number of clockwise spirals and counter clockwise spirals are consecutive Fibonacci numbers and usually contains 34 and 55 seeds.
The Fibonacci sequence can also be seen in the way tree branches form or split. A main trunk will grow until it produces a branch, which creates two
growth points. Then, one of the new stems branches into two, while the other one lies dormant. This pattern of branching is repeated for each of the new stems. A
good example is the sneezewort. Root systems and even algae exhibit this pattern.

GOLDEN RATIO
Fibonacci discovery of Fibonacci sequence happened to approach the ratio asymptotically. He found the interesting and mysterious properties of the
Fibonacci sequence that the series has a deep relationship with the golden ratio.
The golden ratio was first called as the Divine Proportion in the early 1500s in Leonardo da Vinci’s work which was explored by Luca Pacioli
entitled “De Divina Proportione” in 1509. This contains the drawings of the five platonic solids and it was probably da Vinci who first called it “section aurea”
which is Latin for Golden Secion.
In mathematics, two quantities are in the Golden ratio if their ratio is the same of their sum to the larger of the two quantities. The Golden Ratio is
the relationship between numbers on the Fibonacci sequence where plotting the relationships on scales results in a spiral shape. In simple terms, golden ratio is
expressed as an equation, where a is larger than b, (a+b) divided by a is equal to a divided by b, which is equal to 1.618033987…and represented by φ (phi).
a+b a
φ= = =1 . 618033987 … .
a b
b a a/b

2 3 1.5

3 5 1.666666666…

5 8 1.6

8 13 1.625

13 21 1.615384615...

21 34 1.61905

34 55 1.61765

. . .

. . .

144 233 1.618055556...

233 377 1.618025751...

GOLDEN TRIANGLE
 Golden ratio can be deduced in an isosceles triangle. If we take the isosceles triangle that has the two base angles of 72 degrees and we bisect one
of the base angles, we should see that we get another golden triangle that is similar to the golden rectangle. If we apply the same manner as the golden rectangle,
we should get a set of whirling triangles. With these whirling triangles, we are able to draw a logarithmic spiral that will converge at the intersection of the two
lines. The spiral converges at the intersection of the two lines and this ratio of the lengths of these two lines is in the Golden Ratio.

GOLDEN RATIO IN NATURE

It is often said that math contains the answers to most of universe’s questions. Math manifests itself everywhere. One such example is the Golden
Ratio. This famous Fibonacci sequence has fascinated mathematicians, scientist and artists for many hundreds of years. The Golden Ratio manifests itself in
many places across the universe, including right here on Earth, it is part of Earth’s nature and it is part of us.
1. Flower petals
number of petals in a flower is often one of the following numbers: 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 or 55. For example, the lily has three petals, buttercups have five of them,
the chicory has 21 of them, the daisy has often 34 or 55 petals, etc.
2. Faces
Faces, both human and nonhuman, abound with examples of the Golden Ratio. The mouth and nose are each positioned at golden sections of the distance
between the eyes and the bottom of the chin. Similar proportions can been seen from the side, and even the eye and ear itself.
3. Body parts
The Golden Section is manifested in the structure of the human body. The human body is based on Phi and the number 5.The number 5 appendages to the torso,
in the arms, leg and head. 5 appendages on each of these, in the fingers and toes and 5 openings on the face. Animal bodies exhibit similar tendencies.
4. Seed heads
Typically, seeds are produced at the center, and then migrate towards the outside to fill all the space. Sunflowers provide a great example of these spiraling
patterns.
5. Fruits, Vegetables and Trees
Spiraling patterns can be found on pineapples and cauliflower. Fibonacci numbers are seen in the branching of trees or the number of leaves on a floral stem;
numbers like 4 are not. 3’s and 5’s, however, are abundant in nature.
6. Shells
Snail shells and nautilus shells follow the logarithmic spiral, as does the cochlea of the inner ear. It can also be seen in the horns of certain goats, and the shape of
certain spider’s webs.
7. Spiral Galaxies
Spiral galaxies are the most common galaxy shape. The Milky Way has several spiral arms, each of them a logarithmic spiral of about 12 degrees.
8. Hurricanes
It’s amazing how closely the powerful swirls of hurricane match the Fibonacci sequence.
GOLDEN RATIO IN ARTS
The golden ratio can be used to achieve beauty, balance and harmony in art, architecture and design. It can be used as a tool in art and design to
achieve balance in the composition. Check out some examples of golden ratio in arts.
1. The exterior dimension of the Pathernon in Athens, Greece embodies the golden ratio.
2. In “Timaeus” Plato describes five possible regular solids that relate to the golden ratio which is now known as Platonic Solids. He also considers the
golden ratio to be the most bringing of all mathematical relationships.

3. Euclid was the first to give definition of the golden ratio as “a dividing line in the extreme and mean ratio” in his book the “Elements”. He proved
the link of the numbers to the construction of the pentagram, which is now known as golden ratio. Each intersections to the other edges of a
pentagram is a golden ratio. Also the ratio of the length of the shorter segment to the segment bounded by the two intersecting lines is a golden ratio.

4. Leonardo da Vinci was into many interests such as invention, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature,
anatomy, geology, botany, writing, history and cartography. He used the golden ratio to define the fundamental portions in his works. He
incorporated the golden ratio in his own paintings such as the Vitruvian Man, The Last Supper, Monalisa and St. Jerome in the Wilderness.

5. Michaelangelo di Lodovico Simon was considered the greatest living artists of his time. He used golden ratio in his painting “The Creation of
Adam” which can be seen on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. His painting used the golden ratio showing how God’s finger and Adam’s finger
meet precisely at the golden ratio point of the weight and the height of the area that contains them.

6. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino or more popularly known as Raphael was also a painter and architect from the Rennaisance. In his painting “The School
of Athens,”, the division between the figures in the painting and their proportions are distributed using the golden ration. The golden triangle and
pentagram can also be found in Raphael’s painting “Crucifixion”.
 7. The golden ratio can also be found in the works of other renowned painters such as
a.) Sandro Botticelli (Birth of Venus);
b.) George-Pierre Surat (“Bathers at Assinieres”, “Bridge of Courbevoie” and “A Sunday on La Grande Jette”), and
c.) Salvador Dali (“The Sacrament of the Last Supper”).

GOLDEN RATIO IN ARCHITECTURE

Some of the architectural structures that exhibit the application of the Golden ratio are the following:
1. The Great Pyramid of Giza built 4700 BC in Ahmes Papyrus of Egypt is with proportion according to a “Golden Ratio”. The length of each side of
the base is 756 feet with a height of 481 feet. The ratio of the base to the height is roughly 1.5717, which is close to the Golden ratio.
2. Notre Dame is a Gothic Cathedral in Paris, which was built in between 1163 and 1250. It appears to have a golden ratio in a number of its key
proportions of designs.

3. The Taj Mahal in India used the golden ratio in its construction and was completed in 1648. The order and proportion of the arches of the Taj
Mahal on the main structure keep reducing proportionately following the golden ratio.

4. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres in Paris, France also exhibits the Golden ratio.

5. In the United Nation Building, the window configuration reveal golden proportion.

6. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, erected in 1889 is an iron lattice. The base is broader while it narrows down the top, perfectly following the
golden ratio.

7. The CN Tower in Toronto, the tallest tower and freestanding structure in the world, contains the golden ratio in its design. The ratio of observation
deck at 342 meters to the total height of 553.33 is 0.618 or phi, the reciprocal of phi.
TOPIC 4: Mathematics Helps Predict the Behavior of Nature and Phenomena in the World
BEHAVIOR OF NATURE
Behavior of nature can be observed around us.
Natural regularities of nature:
Symmetry Fractals Spirals
Trees Meanders Waves
Foams Tessellations Cracks
Stripes Spots

Golden Ratio can be found in the beauty of nature,

the growth patterns of many
5. Age of the trees can be
plants, insects, and the determined by applying
universe. dendrochronology which is a
1. Honeycombs of the bees scientific method of
show specific regular
dating based on the amount of
repeating hexagons. It uses
rings found in the core of a tree.
the least amount of wax to
store the honey giving a strong structure with no gaps. 6. Turtles have growth rings called “scutes” which are
2. Zebra’s coat, the alternating pattern of blacks and white are hexagonal.
due to mathematical Scutes estimates the age of the turtle.
rules that govern the
pigmentation chemicals
of its skin.

3. Spider webs
illustrate a
beautiful pattern.
The spider creates
a structure by
performing innate Smallest scute is in the center and is the oldest one, while the
steps. largest ones on the outside are the newer ones.

4. The nautilus shell

has natural
pattern which
7. Lightning during storms creates fractals. Foam bubbles
contains a spiral shape
formed by trapping pockets of gas in a liquid or solid.
called
logarithmic
spiral.
 The meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves,
bends, loops, turns, or windings in the channel of the body of
water.

8. Cracks can also be found on the barks of trees which show

some sort of weakness in the bark.
TOPIC 5 :APPLICATIONS OF MATHEMATICS IN THE WORLD
In our daily life, we use mathematics directly or indirectly in various fields. The application of mathematical methods in different fields such as
science, engineering, business, computer science and industry is a combination of mathematical science and specialized knowledge. For example, statistics,
combinatorics, and graph theory are used by investigators to solve crimes.
Other applications of mathematics are in forensic science, medicine, engineering, information technology, cryptography, archaeology, social
sciences, political science and other fields.
1. In forensic, mathematics is applied specifically the differential and integral calculus to clarify the blurred image to clear image. Another application
of calculus is optimization (maximize or minimize) surface areas, volumes, profit and cost analysis, projectile motion, etc.
2. In medical field, much of a function of a protein is determined by its shape and how the pieces move. Many drugs are designed to change the shape
or motions of a protein by modeling using geometry and related areas. Mathematics is also being applied in the development of medicine to cure
diseases.
3. In fluid dynamics, engineers use numerical analysis in phenomena involving heat, electricity and magnetism, relativistic mechanics, quantum
mechanics and other theoretical constructs.

4. In Information Technology, modern computer are invented through the help of mathematics. An important area of applications of mathematics in
the development of formal mathematical theories related to the development of computer science. Computer science development includes logic,
relations, functions, basic set theory, counting techniques, graph theory, combinatorics, discrete probability, recursion, recurrence relations and
number theory, computer-oriented numerical analysis and Operation Research techniques.
5. Cryptography is a combination of both mathematics and computer science and is affiliated closely with information theory, computer security and
engineering. It is used in applications present in technologically advanced societies, examples include the security of ATM cards, computer
passwords and electronic commerce.

6. In archaeology, archaeologists use a variety of mathematical and statistical techniques to present the data from archaeological surveys and try to
find patterns to shed on past human behavior an in carbon dating artifacts.

7. In Social Sciences such as economics, sociology, psychology and linguistics all now make extensive use of mathematical models, using the tools of
calculus, probability, game theory, and network theory.

8. In Economics, mathematics such as matrices, probability and statistics are used. The models may be stochastic or deterministic, linear or non-linear,
static or dynamic, continuous or discrete and all types of algebraic, differential, difference and integral equations arise for the solution of these
models.

9. In political Science, political analysts study past election results to see changes in voting patterns and the influence of various factors on voting
behavior or switching of votes among political parties and mathematical models for Conflict Resolution using Game Theory and Statistics.

10. In music and arts, the rhythm that we find in all music notes is the result of innumerable permutations and combinations. Music theorists
understand musical structure and communicate new ways of hearing music by applying set theory, abstract algebra, and number theory.

5. Teaching and Learning Activities

Essay

In an essay form,
1. Identify patterns in nature and regularities in the world.
2. Articulate the importance of mathematics in one’s life.
3. Argue about the nature of mathematics, what is it, how it is expressed, represented and used.
4. Express appreciation for mathematics as a human endeavor.

6. Recommended learning materials and resources for supplementary reading.

All related Mathematics in the Modern World books are recommended for reading.

7. Flexible Teaching Learning Modality (FTLM) adopted

Online (synchronous)

TelEducation, Moodle, Facebook messenger, Zoom, Google Classroom, etc..

Remote (asynchronous)

module

8. Assessment Task

Recitation
Quizzes

9. References (at least 3 references preferably copyrighted within the last 5 years, alphabetically arranged)

Book/s: Aufman Richard, et. al., Mathematics in the Modern World, 14th Edition

Online
https://www.scribd.com/document/413135891/mathematics-in-the-modern-world