On November 23 every year is it Fibonacci Day. It’s named after an Italian mathematician in the 13th century.

He’s known for many things, but I’ll give you two them.

The Fibonacci sequence

Put simply, the Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers which begins with 0 and 1. Each number after that is equal to adding the two numbers right before it together. For example, 0+1=1 and 3+5=8 … This gives you a sequence that looks like 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 etc.

Any child who has beginning understanding of addition can get a grip of this sequence.

What makes this sequence so interesting?

Fibonacci numbers can be found in the natural world all around us. Most flowers, for example, will have a number of petals which correspond with the Fibonacci sequence. Irises have three petals whereas wild roses and buttercups have five petals. That is of course, until a petal falls off. No wonder rare four-leaf clovers are seen as lucky!

If you cut into a piece of fruit, you’re likely to find a Fibonacci number there as well, in how the sections of seeds are arranged. Bananas have three sections whilst apples have five.

The Fibonacci sequence even plays a role in the subtle spirals you can see in the seed head of a sunflower.

The Golden Spiral –

Painting the pinecone spiral

Idea taken from the Smart Happy Project

Step One.

Collect your pinecones. Go outdoors. Observe the nature and search under trees and in bushes to find your specimens.

Brush off any leaves and mud. Sometimes they will be quite damp depending on where you are. I don’t really worry about this too much. This is about the immediacy of a natural item becoming art.

Step Two.

Look for the pattern in the pinecone shape.

NOTE: The scales that make up the outline of the pinecone hide the seeds or the pollen under them. If your pinecone has opened it has released this already. If it is tightly packed, then it has still to release. You can use pinecones at either stage.

The scales are arranged in a pattern as they grow out from the central axis. The angle that they sit at to each other tends to be because of efficiency of space. (This is the angle that is referred to as Fibonacci or Golden angle).

We are encouraging our eye to pick out the spiralling line that neighbouring scales create around the shape of the cone. It sounds more complicated than it is.

Step Three

Use one paint colour and paint each scale in the curving line creating a solid spiral that wraps around the pinecone. Any poster or acrylic colour paint will do, just not to drippy as you need to turn the cone in your hand as you work.

I suggest keeping to one colour per line to start with to emphasise the pinecone spiral shape.

You can carry on creating stripes or using different colours as you wish. Sometimes less is more.

Interconnected Spirals

Each cone will have one type of spiral that turns one way (duplicated several times) and another shape of spiral that curves the other direction (again duplicated several times) This is what is known as the interconnected spirals in nature.

After painting your first pinecone spiral line, you can observe the opposite turning spiral and paint that in too, making the interconnected pattern where the two spirals cross over each other. One ‘scale’ will be shared by both spirals so you will need to decide which colour that one is.

 

Will you be able to find the centers of gravity of different objects to gain balance?

Phase 1. Material

• Various objects (for example: ruler, popsicle stick, pencil, brush, stick, spoon)
• Blue tac or tape

Phase 2 Activity

The activity can be done outdoors or indoors. Children can choose different objects, or the instructor can have ready.

Each person gets to choose an item.

1. Observe how the object looks, where there may be a point where the object balances on your finger or palm.
2. You can mark the place with tape or blue tac.
3. You can place the object on a finger or try to balance on the palm of your hand. Where does the object need to be to keep it balanced on your hand and not fall off?

Was your guess correct or not?

You can try each object in turn to find the balance point. Once you have marked the correct balance point on each object, you can look at it, if the marks are in the same place on all the objects. Are the objects different and why are the markings in different places? Let the children come up with answers and finally tell them about the emphasis.

Phase 3: Why

It’s about the center of gravity. The center of gravity varies depending on the shape of the object. For example, a spoon has one end that is heavier than the other, so the center of gravity is closer to the tip of the spoon, while an ice cream stick has a center of gravity in the middle of the ice cream stick.

 

Activity found from Steam Turku

Let the ruler be the yard stick for this scavenger hunt.

math-measuring-scavenger-hunt (PDF, 30kB)

Exploring the 5 senses

YOU WILL NEED:

• Apple Varieties {5 is a good number!}
• Knife {adults only for cutting apple slices}
• Paper Plates
• Marker
• Printable Science Sheet
• Your Senses!

HOW TO SET UP A TASTE TEST EXPERIMENT

1. Choose your apple types and place each one on a paper plate.
2. Label the plate with the apple’s name.
3. Then an adult should use a knife to cut out wedges of apple for everyone.
4. Time to observe how each apple tastes, smells, feels, and crunches!

LEARN ABOUT THE BODY’S 5 SENSES

This is the perfect opportunity to talk about the body’s five senses!

TOUCH | TASTE | SOUND | SIGHT | SMELL

Get everyone talking about how each apple tastes, smells, feels, and crunches!

Describe what the apple looks like with your sense of sight. What color is the skin? What color is the flesh? What shape is it? Compare the apple colors and sizes.

Describe what the apple feels like with your sense of touch.  What does it feel like?  Does it feel wet or dry?  Smooth or rough? Soft or hard?

Describe what the apple smells like with your sense of smell.  Compare the smell of the different apples.

Then on to the best bit… taste testing each apple!  Describe what the apple tastes like with your sense of taste, and what it sounds like with your sense of sound. Close your eyes when you are taste testing and see if that makes a difference observing.