Luke Hamilton Personal Project - Fibonacci Blocks

Fibonacci

BlocksCandidate Name: Luke Thomas Hamilton

Candidate Code: 001529-463

School Name: Bali International School

Date: 2nd February 2015

Supervisor: Matt McCormick

Luke Hamilton, Personal Project 2015

Project Summary

Assistance Needed

I have created a set of wooden building blocks which are in the measurements of

the Fibonacci Sequence doubled (2,2,4,6,10,16,26). These blocks come with a

guide which helps to educate and inform about the Golden Ratio and the blocks.

These blocks help people of all ages appreciate complex concepts and better

identify connections and relationships between nature and technology/our society

as we know it.

Project Summary

The goal of my personal project is to create a

simple and fun educational tool to give people

an appreciation of the Golden Ratio and the

beauty they can create with it.

To achieve this, I have created a set of wooden

building blocks I’ve called:

Fibonacci Blocks.

Fibonacci Blocks are the first set of building blocks

based on the Fibonacci Sequence, Phi and the

Golden Ratio. When you play with the blocks, you

are following in the footsteps of Leonardo Da Vinci

by creating using nature’s golden proportions in

your creations.


Project Summary

Assistance Needed






as we know it.

My Topic

The topic of my personal project originated

from my passion for Maths and Sciences.

My Global Context is

Scientific and Technical Innovation

My project is an inquiry into how artists and

scientists have used the Golden Ratio to connect

the natural world with our human world and sense

of beauty. My product, the Fibonacci Blocks,

allows you to experience and appreciate this

connection for yourself.


Project Summary

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as we know it.

Investigating

I focused my research on five main areas:

1. Golden Ratio in Nature

2. Golden Ratio in Architecture

3. Golden Ratio in Art

4. The Fibonacci Series

5. The Froebel Blocks

My research in the first three areas allowed me to

improve from an outside interest in the Golden

Ratio to a in-depth understanding of it.

The last two became areas of inquiry that led me

to my product, the Fibonacci Blocks.


Project Summary

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as we know it.

Golden Ratio in Nature

Fibonacci numbers and the golden ratio are

found throughout nature.

This includes in the spiral of sunflowers,

pineapples, shells and pinecones.

The more you are conscious of your

surroundings the more examples of the Golden

Spiral you will begin to notice.

It is also found in the human body, with the

proportion of the face, and the proportion of

our arms to our hands to our fingers, all

following the golden ratio.


Project Summary

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as we know it.

Golden Ratio in Architecture

The Golden Proportion (also known as the

Divine Proportion) is the proportion used in the

design of famous buildings, from the Great

Pyramid in Egypt to the Taj Mahal in India to

the Parthenon in Greece to the Notre Dame

Cathedral in France.

Leonardo Da Vinci illustrated a Renaissance

Book written by Luca Pacioli called "De Divina

Proportione" (the Divine Proportion).

The book explained how, by using the Golden

Proportion, we could follow the proportions of

nature. It became an important book in the

design of art and architecture in the

Renaissance.


Project Summary

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as we know it.

Golden Ratio in Art

Many Renaissance Artists used the Golden

Ratio in their art. Leonardo Da Vinci used it in

the proportions of “The Mona Lisa” and “The

Last Supper”. Michelangelo used it when

painting “The Creation of Adam” on the Sistine

Chapel Ceiling. Bottocelli used it in “The Birth

of Venus.”

The Golden Ratio is used

today in many different modern

designs. Here is an example of

this: The Apple logo, using

circles with the fibonacci

numbers 1,2,3,5,8,13.


Project Summary

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as we know it.

Fibonacci

Fibonacci, also known as Leonardo of Pisa,

was an Italian mathematician who introduced

the Hindu-Arabic numeral system to the West.

He also introduced the sequence called the

Fibonacci Series, where each number is the sum

of the two numbers before it, creating:

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 ,21, 34, 55, 89, 144 etc

He showed that when you divided each number

with the one before it in the sequence, each

number got closer and closer to the number

PHI, which has been known through history as

the “Golden Ratio”.


Project Summary

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as we know it.

Froebel Blocks

Friedrich Froebel was the creator of the

Kindergarten. He was the teacher to preschool

pioneers Rudolph Steiner and Maria

Montessori. To help teach young children, he

created "Froebel Blocks". These were wooden

blocks which allowed children to learn to think

in three dimensions.

Famous people who learned with Froebel Blocks

include Albert Einstein, Buckminster Fuller, Frank

Lloyd Wright & Charles Eames, and famous cubist

artists Paul Klee & Josef Albers.

It is the idea of the Froebel Blocks that inspired

me to create the Fibonacci Blocks - the first

blocks to be created using the Fibonacci Series

and Golden Ratio.


Project Summary

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as we know it.

My Criteria

Inspired by the Froebel blocks, I set the criteria

for my Fibonacci Blocks.

The final criteria I set for my product were:

1. Be as easy and fun to use for students and adults

2. Capture the imagination of people who used them

3. Allow people to understand the Golden Ratio

4. Result in people using the blocks naturally

5. Be in exact measurements of the Fibonacci Series

6. Be good quality and long lasting materials

7. Be practical to carry and easy to pack and unpack

8. Be accompanied by an easy to understand,

educational and fun to read guide of good quality


Project Summary

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as we know it.

Creating the Plan

To meet my criteria, I planned to create

the following with the support of local

craftsmen and my own efforts:

1. The design and layout of the blocks themselves.

1. The packaging of the blocks.

1. The booklet that will come with the blocks.

1. A website for the blocks

1. My presentation script and slide show

I met many challenges along the way.

How I reacted to these challenges and what I

learned from them has developed me

a lot as an IB learner


Project Summary

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as we know it.

Creating the Blocks

I designed the blocks as 130 pieces to fit over 8

levels into a 26cm x 26cm box, and I made a

sample myself with styrofoam.

But getting the blocks made was a challenge!

I had to talk to five different craftsmen to finally get

to the two that could help me. Of those two, I was

able to get one at the quality that I wanted.

I tried different size and box types and in the

process settled on the best ones. The process

took longer than expected, but once I had a

chance to play with the final product, the

experience of creating with the blocks was also

beyond my expectation.


Project Summary

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as we know it.

Creating the Guide

Planning and creating the 16 page guide and

website allowed me to summarize my research

and think about how to explain the concept of

the Golden Ratio in the simplest and most

interesting way I could.

I used a printing company in Sanur to print the

guide, and I learned how to organize and brief the

printer on page numbers, paper size and paper

quality to ensure it looked professional.

Putting up a website also allowed me to see that

no one else had created a similar products. You

can visit it as www.fibonacciblocks.com and I was

very excited to see enquiries for the blocks come

through from the website (one for 5,000 sets!)


//ppt/slides/www.fibonacciblocks.com

Project Summary

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as we know it.

Reflecting on my learning

How I have developed my planning, organising

and thinking skills

I have learned so much about myself from this

project. I decided early what my global context and

subject was going to be, but I still struggled as I

had not made a final decision on my product.

When I did, I found it a challenge to balance my

actions with my reporting, which led to difficulties.

These challenges grew as I began working with

the craftsmen and time frames changed.

From these, I learned to improve my balance, to

prioritise and plan better, to be flexible with

changes and to be constantly self-evaluating.


Project Summary

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as we know it.


How I have developed my information

literacy and research skills

I have also learned how much easier I learn when I

have picked a subject that I am very interested in.

By organising what I am learning and being clear

why I am learning it, I have become much better at

focusing my research skills.

I have also learned that I can get focused much

faster when I have examples to look at. For

example, having the Froebel Blocks as inspiration

and researching other IB oral presentations has

made it easier for me to grow my own confidence

in collecting the right information and knowledge to

support my own products and presentations.


Project Summary

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as we know it.


How I have developed my communication

and collaboration skills

Throughout the project I was concerned whether I

would be able to produce the finished product as I

knew it would require me working with craftsmen

and printers, giving them briefs and overseeing

their work.

To achieve this I have had to learn to improve my

communication and collaboration skills - especially

when it was not working. I have also learned how

much the success of this project has been the

result of me improving my collaboration skills with

my supervisor and the many people who have

helped me with this project.


Project Summary

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as we know it.

Reflecting on the product

Comparing the product to

the criteria that I set

I am very pleased that the final product has met

the criteria that I set. The experience of the playing

with the blocks has been beyond my expectation.

This project has become my passion and I think I

could now branch out to different types of blocks.

They could have double sized and plush toys for

kids so that even when they’re young they can be

playing in golden proportions.

This personal project has really opened my

eyes as to what is possible when you take an

idea and turn it into a successful product.


Project Summary

Assistance Needed






as we know it.

A Final Word

I hope you enjoyed my presentation

and my product.

If you haven’t already played with the blocks then I

will have a stand open at the exhibition where you

can come and play with the blocks.

I will be selling these blocks as a product with

enough support in the near future so visit my site:

www.fibonacciblocks.com

to keep updated.


//ppt/slides/www.fibonacciblocks.com

Thank you!


Design

Luke Hamilton Personal Project - Fibonacci Blocks