Statistics of Nature
Counting Spirals
Question 1:
Approximately how many clockwise spirals does the above pinecone have?
The picture on the left has one (aqua) clockwise spiral highlighted.
Question 2:
Approximately how many counterclockwise spirals does the above pinecone have?
The picture on the right has one (black) counterclockwise spiral highlighted.
Question 3:
To estimate the spirals in flowers with many of them,
perhaps you want to count a part of the flower, and then estimate how many regions there are of
that size to multiply by (like estimates of the number of starts in the universe). For instance, you could count the
spirals in 1/4 of the flower and multiply by 4.
Approximately how many clockwise spirals does the following flower have?
The picture on the left has one (aqua) clockwise spiral highlighted.
Don't
hurt your eyes counting.
Question 4:
Approximately how many counterclockwise spirals does the above flower have?
The picture on the right has one (black) counterclockwise spiral highlighted.
Question 5:
Search the web for information about the golden ratio and places in
nature where it can be found.