Kiddo’s sense of wonder regarding numbers has been very educational for me. Lately he has been enjoying Fibonacci books. I’m not sure I’d ever heard of the Fibonacci Sequence before, or, if I had, I’d forgotten about it. Since learning about the sequence, and its appearance in the natural world, our nature walks have included some math exploration. Kiddo likes to pick up pine cones or examine leaves to see if their patterns adhere to the sequence.
Fibonacci Picture Books:
Fortunately there are a few great books describing the Fibonacci math patterns as well as teaching about their namesake:
Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci. The man himself. This is an accessible biography for kids about how Fibonacci came to discover the patterns in nature that are named after him.
Growing Patterns. You can’t beat beautiful nature photos and mathematics. This book has examples of Fibonacci patterns in nature but also the the “golden ratio.”
The Rabbit Problem. Fibonacci + Emily Gravett = a match made in heaven. This book in which rabbits multiply according to Fibonacci calculations is fun for little ones. Although the math concepts will go over their heads, they will love studying the humorous illustrations of numerous bunnies! The book ends with a terrific pop-up page.
So, is it math that makes nature beautiful, or nature that makes math beautiful? You decide. Either way, these are fun books about both. Enjoy.
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You must know about–or must check out–Vi Hart's quick-spoken, quick-drawn video series on Fibonacci.
I have watched it twice because she talks so fast AND because it combines a long-time loathe (math) with a long-time love (art).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahXIMUkSXX0
Great suggestion. I didn't know about this video.
Amazing the things that I “knew” in school, but forgot, and am rediscovering while we are learning along with the kids again. These look like great books!
Mike would go nuts if he had a child like Kiddo! He was a lot like your son as a kid (and uses some pretty intense math at work these days), but so far our kids take after mostly number-ignoring-in-the-early-years me… I'll see if our library has copies of these for him to read to them, though – he would enjoy that, and they probably would as well.
I have to learn more about Fibonacci myself, but we checked out The Rabbit Problem recently- very funny book. Will check out the other books you recommend too.
All of these are great ideas. I need to check them out. I also completely forgot about this sequence until the recent post at Almost Unschoolers.