Blackness and Forthill Schools, Dundee
This is a related subject to the identity theme, and children made art using both Fibonacci maths and Henri Matisse's collage as inspiration

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The scientific art of identity
Fibonacci and Spirals



Diagram of the Fibonacci number sequence


Using coloured squares to make the spiral


Leonardo Fibonacci

Spirals are an important aspect of nature,and not just in the DNA curve. In 1202 by Leonardo Fibonacci investigated a sequence of numbers that amazingly occurs frequently in nature, eg number of petals on flowers such as Marigolds, Asters and Daisies and cells in bee hives. Can you see how the pattern is generated? What would the next number be?

It can be used to draw a perfect spiral, like that of a Nautilus shell.
The children cut out squares of coloured paper for each number in the sequence (1x1, 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, 5x5 etc) and then arranged them from the centre of the page as shown. By drawing an arc from diagonal to diagonal, a spiral can be made.


Other children chose to use Matisse's snail as inspiration and arranged the squares in a spiral pattern with spaces in between.

Fibonacci numbers

1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144…

Click to see more  examples of children's work
Matisse inspired collage
Click image for more examples