Naturally, Math Is a Natural Occurrence in Nature

Nature is full of math.  To some, it may be very obvious, for others you may be oblivious to the fact that there is math in use all around us.  Many people think math is difficult, but I think that is in their head.  Every person processes math multiple times a day, and most likely they don't realize it.  Just look around and you will see math in nature, from small animals and plants, to weather and natural disasters.

When looking at plants and animals, one thing that comes to mind for me is a tree.  Sure, trees grow randomly and none are exactly the same, but one of the things I learned when I was young was that when a tree is cut down, you can determine the age of the tree by counting the rings on the stump.  There's some math.

How about clovers?  Have you ever heard of receiving luck if you find a four-leaf clover?  You can't get any luck with a three-leaf clover, you better be able to do some simple math for the difference.

Have you ever noticed that patterns emerge in mathematical practices?  They also emerge in nature.  Spider webs, bird migration, and even fish show patterns that can be described using mathematical concepts.

Probably the most obvious relation between math and nature is through weather and natural disasters.  Just turn on the news each morning and you'll hear math used in explaining weather.  They might report temperature, wind speed, percentages, rain fall, probabilities, it is all math.  And when it comes to natural disasters, just about every conceivable occurrence has a rating system that is derived from math.  For some examples; Tornadoes have the Fujita Scale, earthquakes have the Richter Scale and Hurricanes have a Category Scale.

So don't allow yourself to be challenged by math.  Math is one of the most natural thought processes to have.  Embrace mathematics as part of your lifestyle.

For more information on math in nature, particularly in regards to weather and natural disasters, try some of these online calculators.

Weather and Nature Calculators

Temperature Calculators

Earthquake Damage and Energy Calculator

CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics.  Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)