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Fibonacci Garden:
Mathematics in the Plant World

Michael S. Schneider

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Plants are mathematics made visible

While nature may seem random and chaotic, it's actually quite orderly if you learn to see it mathematically. This DVD demonstrates how mathematics can be appreciated and taught by observing the plant world.

Along with nature's alphabet of simple shapes like circles, triangles, pentagons and spirals, we find the structure and growth of plants – from the simplest grasses and flowers to the mightiest redwoods – can be understood through a knowledge of the Fibonacci Sequence and its cousin the Golden Mean ratio, numbers that grow the same way that plants do by building upon themselves in balanced, cyclical self-referential rhythms.

The Fibonacci Sequence and plant world have a great deal in common: they both grow by recursiveness (build upon themselves), have interconnectedness among all parts, display dynamic balance during growth, fractal self-similarity (parts resemble each other and the whole), recurring cycles, optimization, elegant beauty and more.

This four-hour DVD traverses the history of the Fibonacci Sequence from ancient India to modern times, and then provides a strong foundation in its mathematics, even for beginners, through basic number theory and educational puzzles. Ideas include simple arithmetic, fractions, decimals, algebra and geometry.

For three years Michael created a “Constructing The Universe” classroom dedicated to teaching about the fascinating mathematics of nature. Activities shown in the DVD came from his experience there and includes video clips of him teaching these topics.

Teachers will find this a valuable resource for developing lessons in mathematics involving ordinary plants, as well as suggestions for turning mathematics into art. Many sections of this video can be shown to students with little explanation. Mathematics becomes visible and alive in the beautiful forms of the plant world.

Michael S. Schneider has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and a Master’s Degree in Mathematics Education. He’s the author of A Beginner's Guide To Constructing The Universe: The Mathematical Archetypes Of Nature, Art and Science and six accompanying Constructing The Universe Activity Books and a DVD: A Journey From 1 to 12. He teaches "Mathematical Ideas For Artists" at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

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