The purpose of these web pages is to describe a project in which high
school students investigate the
spiral structures found in various plants. The project has two
parts:
(1) field work, in which the students
collect some examples,
(2) a mathematical investigation of
the spirals.
A project of this kind provides the student with opportunities to become
(a) more mathematically observant,
(b) more scientifically observant,
and, perhaps, also more interested in the structure and biology
of plants.
The following presentation is "rough and ready". We will be
improving it and adding more material soon.
We are putting this online now in order to facilitate communication
with high school teachers who are
interested in developing projects on on the investigation of
spiral structures in plants.