Math encourages all kinds of creative problem solving! From Fibonacci to coding, here’s how math inspires curiosity in young minds.
By definition, math is all about problem solving. After all, we call it “solving a math problem” for a reason! But the great thing about problem solving in math is that it encourages an important aspect of critical thinking: finding alternative solutions.
A core part of early math skills is not just teaching students the operations themselves, but also how these operations relate to one another. For example, by understanding how multiplication and division are related to one another, students will be encouraged to find multiple ways of solving the same math problem.
What many students are surprised to find out, however, is that mathematical patterns also occur in nature!
Fibonacci’s sequence
The Fibonacci sequence is named after Italian mathematician Fibonacci, who first documented the unique pattern in 1202 (although it also appears earlier in other cultures’ writings from around the world). In summary, the sequence of numbers (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144…) can be used to represent a spiral formation, often referred to as the golden ratio:
Students will recognize this shape immediately – most will say “it looks like a snail shell!” Incredibly, this exact pattern appears all throughout nature, including:
- Pinecones
- Flowers and plants
- Nautilisks and shelled amphibians
- Star and galaxy formations
The Fibonacci sequence pops up so unexpectedly that an entire magazine has been devoted to its discussion – Fibonacci Quarterly – which has been published continuously since 1963! But why does this pattern keep appearing, and can it be used to predict other trends? These are the types of questions teachers ask students, and this is only one example of how mathematical principles can be used to inspire creative problem solving approaches in students.
Coding encourages problem solving, too
As many parents know, coders (known professionally as “developers”) are in extremely high demand. From online banking platforms to app games, there is certainly no shortage of demand for young, talented coders. What a lot of people don’t realize, however, is that the art of writing code itself is a measure in problem solving.
When code is first written, it’s generally just a working example while the project is developed. For example, apps go through many phases of development (alpha, beta, etc) – it’s only when the code is finalized that a new task is performed: optimization!
You see, the majority of functions in code can be, generally speaking, accomplished using a variety of methods and tools – sometimes even other programming languages! Some of these methods are faster, require less processing power, or are simply easier to work on – this integral line of work is referred to as code optimization, and it’s another fantastic example of how math-based problem solving plays a critical role in software and web development!
