PUBLIC _This methodology was experimented in the Botanical Garden of the University of Granada, Spain, with :
 young students with some learning difficulties participating in a learning/training mobility within the Erasmus+ programme, from 16 to 20 October 2018. Pupils from the secondary school Joao de Deus of Faro, Portugal, and young adults from the association Acquamarina, Trieste, Italy ;
 European teachers in training mobility during the same period attending the peer-to-peer course where this experimentation involving both students and teachers was foreseen. This pedagogical tool has also been the object of other experimentations with other categories of public from college and high school located in Cortina d’Ampezzo and Trieste.

KEY COMPETENCES
 Oral and written communication in the mother tongue
 Scientific and mathematical skills
 ICT skills
 Awareness and cultural expression
 Social and civic competences
 Learning to learn

OBJECTIVES
 To discover the relationship between Maths and nature : detect a geometrical and mathematical order in the plants’ morphology
 To learn how to use and master some online programmes devoted to the discovery and highlighting of spirals and fractals in the plants

GARDENS EXPLORED
Botanical garden of Granada, Spain
Botanical Garden of Trieste, Italy

MATERIALS
Software to be uploaded. Web reference : the handbook Margherite e Spirali , Cavolfiori e Frattali by Carlo Genzo and Alessandro Logar on the site http://www.dmi.units.it/logar/mescef/ https://issuu.com/comuneditrieste/d
Laptop, tablets, projector, printer

DEVELOPMENT 1.in the classroom : presentation of a slide show on
 the relationship between geometry and nature
 how this relationship has been exploited by art. Recognise and mention the geometrical forms observed

2.In the garden : group work and use of the software
 Identify the plants observed in the classroom, take note of their ’identity card’, shoot them
 Detect their secret geometry with the help of the software. Work in the garden using laptops and tablets.

3.In the classroom : printing of the work realised and production of a collective book

EVALUATION It takes into account the ability to :

Master the oral and written mother tongue and develop social and civic competences
 Use a proper vocabulary to speak of the relationship between geometry and botany
 Be able to : communicate with others through the experiences made and the results got, present your work orally and uphold your choices, exchange and share during the group work

Develop Maths and Science skills
 Observe, identify and mention the geometrical forms either discovered or recognised
 Observe, identify and mention the plants recognised, draw up their ’identity card’ employing an adequate scientific vocabulary
 Comprehend and relate both orally and in writing
The use of the software helps to retrace the geometry of the plants

Develop awareness and cultural expression Enrich the personal culture by browsing the works of artists applying the concept of relationship between Maths and nature

Learning to learn
Make progress as regards observation, memorisation, comprehension, taking note and creativity applied to practice.

AUTHOR
Alessandro Logar
Acquamarina Associazione Culturale, Trieste, Italy

PHOTOS
Annamaria Castellan
Acquamarina Associazione Culturale, Trieste, Italy