Much like the discoverer of the Fibonacci Sequence, the Navigators and the Dragons came together and became observers. We went on a QUEST to discover what was similar about all the different items from nature that had been placed around the room.
We took notes and drew pictures of seashells and starfish.
There were pictures of galaxies.
There were lots of different flowers...
...and pineapples, pine cones. and cauliflower.
We really had to compare and think.
How are they the same?
What is the "common denominator"?
We noticed spikes, colors, and patterns.
We noticed that the pineapple and the pine cone look very similar.
And then we noticed SPIRALS!
AHA! Most of them have spirals!
We read this book, Blockhead, the Life of Fibonacci, and noticed that he, too, noticed the spiral pattern in nature, along with a sequence of numbers.
We looked at the sequence and saw the pattern.
Another AHA moment!
The kids then get to choose what they'd like to work on.
Writing the number sequence as far as they can:
Drawing the spiral:
Taking it even farther on graph paper:
Counting the spirals on a sunflower. The answer? a Fibonacci number!
This was inquiry based instruction at its finest--the students asked the questions, did the observations, and discovered for themselves what Leonardo Fibonacci discovered about 850 years ago.
He could have been a Seabury Student!
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