“CIÊNCIA VIVA” IN SUMMER: AN EXPERIENCE WITH FIBONACCI SEQUENCE

Knowledge in History of Mathematics allow better understand how we reached the current knowledge, why not teach this or that topic and how to teach to be better understood by our young people.

Several recommendations on the teaching of mathematics refer the introduction of the History of this science as a strategy to follow in the teaching process and learning. Currently, there are already many who follow this strategy but persist unusual concrete integration of proposals that include History of Mathematics in the classroom. In the order to help integrate History of Mathematics in a form of non-formal education, we proposed in “Ciência Viva” project – Occupation Scientific Youth on vacation 2015 – introduce Fibonacci in part of the Summer School of Mathematics of the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro. We proposed interlinked tasks among themselves that involved the biography of Fibonacci, the sequence with the same name, their basic properties and its applications.

Leonardo Bonacci known as Fibonacci (1170 – 1250) was an Italian mathematician, considered to be "the most talented Western mathematician of the Middle Ages” and it is well known the sequence of Fibonacci and their connection with the Golden number.
This project was aimed at secondary school students and took place over a week and spent 4h classroom daily.

In the experience developed with project participants, it was considered the task as a working set of proposals presented to the students and the whole activity of these proposals. In the activities, tasks were diverse, from tasks using the technology, through tasks involving students in the use of paper and pencil and manipulative teaching materials. Thus, there is provided a different approach to many issues of curriculum areas.

First the students researched on the internet about the life and work of Fibonacci, following the various tasks.

A large number of exciting applications of these numbers to mathematical, physical, biological and engineering sciences is included. It also contains a wide variety of material accessible to college and even high school mathematics students and teachers at all levels.
With the proposed tasks to the students of secondary school, we believe having to contribute to establish connections between the History of Mathematics and different mathematical topics, as well as other areas of knowledge.

This project was carried out in a collaborative environment in which students took an active role and culminated with the construction of a poster illustrating the theme investigated.