Today, I’m showing you how to make a cool Fibonacci lemonade and we are learning all about the famous mathematician and his contributions.
For a kid who isn’t typically wild about math or science, making this layered Fibonacci lemonade will get them excited to learn about both.
The measurements of ingredients and the way that they are added is a simple and easy-to-understand lesson in mathematics.
While learning about density this activity gives your child an equally fun and understandable science lesson.
Besides the lemonade, you can demonstrate simply with graph paper and by observing the pattern occurring in nature.
First add some of these books for fun reading time.
Books About Fibonacci For Kids
Also, I lean toward living books to be used as a spine for studying a subject and then like to add in informational books.
6 Books About Fibonacci
Add some of these books about Fibonacci to your library.
As a young boy in medieval Italy, Leonardo Fibonacci thought about numbers day and night. He was such a daydreamer that people called him a blockhead.When Leonardo grew up and traveled the world, he was inspired by the numbers used in different countries. Then he realized that many things in nature, from the number of petals on a flower to the spiral of a nautilus shell, seem to follow a certain pattern. The boy who was once teased for being a blockhead had discovered what came to be known as the Fibonacci Sequence!
From "Raising Rabbits" to "Prickly Pinecones", 24 easy-to-use, reproducible activities and projects introduce students to Fibonacci numbers and the golden ratio. Grades 4-8
A Caldecott medalist and a Newbery Honor-winning poet celebrate the beauty and value of spirals. What makes the tiny snail shell so beautiful? Why does that shape occur in nature over and over again—in rushing rivers, in a flower bud, even inside your ear?
With simplicity and grace, Joyce Sidman's poetry paired with Beth Krommes's scratchboard illustrations not only reveal the many spirals in nature—from fiddleheads to elephant tusks, from crashing waves to spiraling galaxies—but also celebrate the beauty and usefulness of this fascinating shape.
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34. . . Look carefully. Do you see the pattern? Each number above is the sum of the two numbers before it. Though most of us are unfamiliar with it, this numerical series, called the Fibonacci sequence, is part of a code that can be found everywhere in nature. Count the petals on a flower or the peas in a peapod. The numbers are all part of the Fibonacci sequence. In Wild Fibonacci, readers will discover this mysterious code in a special shape called an equiangular spiral. Why so special? It mysteriously appears in the natural world: a sundial shell curves to fit the spiral. So does a parrot's beak. . . a hawk's talon. . . a ram's horn. . . even our own human teeth! Joy Hulme provides a clear and accessible introduction to the Fibonacci sequence and its presence in the animal world.
How does 1+1 = 288? A family of rabbits soon supplies the answer in this funny story! Hop along to Fibonacci's Field and follow Lonely and Chalk Rabbit through a year as they try to cope with their fast expanding brood and handle a different seasonal challenge each month, from the cold of February to the wet of April and the heat of July. This extraordinary picture book is packed with gorgeous details and novelty elements including a baby rabbit record book, a carrot recipe book and a surprise pop-up ending.
Assembled here is a collection of outline illustrations inspired by the Fibonacci number sequence found in nature. They appear everywhere in nature, from the leaf arrangement in plants, to the pattern of the florets of a flower, the bracts of a pinecone, or the chambers of a nautical shell. The Fibonacci Sequence is applicable to the growth of every living thing, including a single cell, a grain of wheat, a hive of bees, and even all of mankind.
8 Things to Learn About Fibonacci
- Fibonacci was a medieval Italian mathematician who introduced Hindu-Arabic numerals to Europe.
- His real name was Leonardo Pisano Bogollo, and “Fibonacci” was just a nickname, and roughly meant “Son of Bonacci”.
- He is most famously known for something called The Fibonacci sequence. The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers that goes like- 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13…
- The next number in the sequence is found by adding the two previous numbers, so the next number in that sequence would be 8+13+21, and then the next would be 13+21=34 and so on.
- This sequence appears in nature- in nautilus shells, pinecones, hurricanes, spiral galaxies, and flowers. It is also called “nature’s secret code.”
- In the 19th century, a statue of Fibonacci was set in Pisa to honor him, not too far from the famous Tower of Pisa.
- November 23 was marked as Fibonacci day because when you write the date in the mm/dd format (11/23) the digits in the date form the Fibonacci sequence-1,1,2,3
- He did not invent the sequence, but it was named after him because he popularized it by publishing it in his work- Liber Abaci, a Latin manuscript on arithmetic.
Look at this Fibonacci rectangle.
Demonstrating the Fibonacci Rectangle
Create your own version of the Fibonacci rectangle with a sheet of graph paper.
- Coloring in 2 squares, each in different colors.
- Above that create a 2×2 square in another color.
- Continue moving in a spiral around the center, 3×3, 5×5, 8×8, 13×13, and higher if space permits.
- Label each set of squares to see the sequence with a pen.
- Draw the spiral starting in the center most corner.
Do you see the shape of a nautilus shell?
If you don’t have graph paper on hand you can find a free printable for it here.
Another great example is this Fibonacci Art project that combines math and art to teach and incorporates using a compass which may be a new math tool for some learners.
The problem that Fibonacci presented in his Liber Abaci was this:
“A certain man put a pair of rabbits in a place surrounded on all sides by a wall. How many pairs of rabbits can be produced from that pair in a year if it is supposed that every month each pair begets a new pair, which from the second month on becomes productive?”
Fibonacci Lemonade
How do the layers stay separate in this Fibonacci lemonade?
The higher the sugar content in liquid is, the more dense it becomes.
So each layer has a different density and does not mix with the others if added carefully.
How to Make a Cool Fibonacci Lemonade
This one is a little bit tricky but with a little patience and maybe a couple of attempts you get a cool layered lemonade that still tastes delicious.
The idea is that the ingredients for each layer replicate the Fibonacci Sequence- adding the amounts of the ingredients in the previous two layers together to get your new ratio of simple syrup to water.
You will need:
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- Lemon juice
- 3-7 food coloring colors
- Smooth clear glass
- Ice
- Spoon
- Small paper cups or bowls
First, heat the water up in the microwave until very hot but it does not need to be boiling.
Stir in sugar until completely dissolved, and make sure it is well mixed or the layering will not work.
The easiest method I found for making the layers is to get little paper cups or little bowls as I have here to mix each of the layers in.
Fibonacci Lemonade
Add a drop or two of food coloring to each bowl.
To keep it simple, the order you have for your bowls is the order you will add to the drink.
I am listing the layers in the Fibonacci sequence, but you will want to reverse the order you put them with the most sugary one at the bottom of the glass.
Remember the sequence looks like this… 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13…
Here are your layers…
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon simple syrup
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon simple syrup -top layer
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 2 teaspoons simple syrup
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice and 3 teaspoons simple syrup
- 3 teaspoons lemon juice and 5 teaspoons simple syrup
- 5 teaspoons lemon juice and 8 teaspoons simple syrup-bottom layer
Put each of these measurements into your bowls and stir to mix, remember the highest ratio of sugar and lemon juice will go in first.
Fill a glass with ice.
Pour the bottom layer in.
For each of the next layers, you want to pour slowly and carefully over the back of a spoon so the splash does not disturb and combine the layers.
If your layer goes in a little too fast it may blend with the previous layer so take your time adding it.
We added just a little water to ours at the end and it was perfectly sweet and lemony but mixing it up makes it an ugly muddy color.
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