Today was a spiral of Fibonacci madness! We started the day by having students share out examples of Fibonacci numbers and swirls that they spotted throughout their week. The students also examined pine cones that they collected on their way into school and tried to trace or count the spirals of scales. 

Next, we took our exploration out to the school garden! The students were able to find tons of Fibonacci numbers, alternating patterns, and swirls hidden in plain sight. They found flowers with 1, 13, 21, and 34 petals; strawberry plants with leaves bunched in 3s; a pumpkin with 13 segments; a spruce tree with branches bunched in 3s; corn stalks with overlapping leaves; giant snails; and so much more! Be sure to ask your student about they types of findings they discovered.

After recess, snack, and a short Choice Time, we started on a huge afternoon art project. In hindsight, I wish I had allocated more time for this project, but we we can only do our best! In honor of International Dot Day, the students learned how to use the mathematical circle-drawing tool of a compass. They were introduced to the terms circumference, diameter, and radius, but we mostly focused on radius for our work. The students used a compass to draw 5 circles with the following radii: 1, 1, 2, 3, and 5. Look familiar? It's the first 5 numbers (not counting 0) of the Fibonacci sequence! 

Some students had time to cut out the circles and turn them into an art piece, while most students took their pieces home to finish their Fibonacci dot art or stored their pieces in their GATE folder to work on during a future Choice Time.

I want to give a HUGE shout out to Amy and Anna, today's parent classroom helpers. We would have only been able to do a third of today's work without them there to help and encourage the students. Thank you!!! ❤️️