Humanities Blog: Nov. 20 ~ Nov. 24, 2017

Fossils give a valuable record of the plant and animal life and environmental conditions from millions of years ago in Alberta. In class this week, students looked at  at fossils of trilobites and ammonites. Some students brought in actual fossils to show the class too.  We discussed the Fibonacci numbers by reading a picture book about Leonardo Fibonacci the Italian mathematician who discovered this sequence.  The title of the book was Blockhead and was authored by Joseph D'Agnese.  The fibonacci sequence of: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5 8, 13, 21, 34  appear everywhere in nature, from the leaf arrangement in plants, to the patterns of a flower, the bracts of a pinecone, or the scales of a pineapple.  We can also see this pattern in the fossil ammonite:  

Uploaded from: https://earthsenergy.org/2013/07/24/ammonites-and-the-fibonacci-sequence/

Students drew on graph paper the same diagram we see superimposed over the photos of the galaxy and of a hurricane in the photos above.  Students used the windows in the classroom.  They placed plain white paper over the fibonacci diagram on chart paper and traced the swirl of the pattern onto the white paper.  They then looked at pictures of ammonites in order to colour their pictures.  Modern nautiloids also provided inspiration for how to colour the ammonites.  

---

Uploaded from: https://www.123rf.com/photo_28070666_golden-spiral-texture-inside-ammonite-shell-with-fibonacci-spiral.html

Ammonites are common fossils.  The ammonite resembles a modern day sea creature called a nautilis: 

Uploaded from: http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/palaeofiles/fossilgroups/cephalopoda/sub-Nautilus.jpg

In class this week students practiced for the Spelling test on Wednesday.  They received their Spelling marks on Thursday or Friday.  On Friday, most students were able to complete research questions about Alberta's fossil heritage and edit spelling sentences.  Working towards revising and editing their work independently through attending to common spelling rules, knowing when and how to use capital letters and using punctuation correctly are all ongoing goals in Word Work this year.  Some students who did not complete the work in class time brought it home as homework over the weekend.