Course Description

Have you ever wondered why many flowers have 5 or 8 petals, why honeycombs form perfect hexagons, or why pineapples look like pinecones?
Mathematics is an incredible tool that helps us better understand the complexities of the natural world, from the petal patterning of a flower to the
spread of infectious disease. In this course students observe the mathematics of nature, exploring how simple mathematical rules and calculations give rise to
complex biological phenomena such as the spiraling of a nautilus (sea) shell, the fractal patterning of a fern, the exact symmetry of honeycombs or the shape
of pinecones. In this course students also use mathematical modelling software to simulate infectious disease outbreaks, allowing them to make predictions
about the future, such as how many people will become infected during an epidemic. Not open to any students enrolled in a Mathematics program.