Interactive Primary Newsletter 35 Nature's Numbers (Fibonacci frolics)

Nature’s numbers 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89 ……… Can you see any pattern in these numbers? They might look like a strange sequence but you can work out the next one each time by adding the previous two numbers e.g. 0+1=1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=5, 3+5=8, 5+8=13 etc. This special series is often called Fibonacci numbers. Leonardo of Pisa, to give him his proper title, was an Italian mathematician (1175-1250) who was instrumental in reviving ancient skills, bringing the decimal system to the Latin-speaking world, as well as contributing theories and solutions of his own. In Fibonacci’s time, mathematical challenges and competitions were most fashionable. In 1225 a competition by the emperor Frederick II came up with the following problem - if you start off with a pair of rabbits, and it takes one month before a pair of rabbits (one male, one female) can do what rabbits do best and produce another pair (one male, one female), how many rabbits will you have after a year? In ideal circumstances the bunny-pair count would rise in just the number sequence shown by Fibonacci. © Gary C. Martin This sequence is sometimes called Nature’s Numbers, as they can be found in lots of places in the natural world. The problem above makes assumptions about rabbits, none of which could be construed as being particularly natural - brothers and sisters mating and each litter coming up with one male and one female. So what have these numbers got to do with nature? Flooer frolics