By applying the same rules each time (rabbits become parents aged two months; no rabbits may leave the field) can you discover how many rabbits there are in the field in any given month?

Working in small groups or pairs, explore the numbers through drawings, diagrams or by using toys or counters. TIP: encourage children to think about adult rabbits and juvenile rabbits as separate groups, as this will help them work out which rabbits are having babies each month, and which are not. 

Record your results on a table showing the number of the month in the first column, the total number of rabbits in the field in the second column, and the number of pairs of rabbits in the third column. 

For example:

Look at the columns showing the number of rabbits, and the number of pairs of rabbits. Can children spot any relationships between these numbers? TIP: You could describe this as looking for patterns in the numbers. 

For example:

You make the number in the third column by halving the number next to it in the second column, and you get the number in the second column by doubling the number in the third column. 

Or, more briefly:

Every number in the third column is half the corresponding number in the second column…

Children may understand the concept of pairs and halving/doubling numbers as they move between columns, but being able to express the idea in clear, precise language is always challenging!

The final pop-up spread!    

Look at Column 3, showing the number of pairs of rabbits. What patterns (or relationships) can you spot within this number sequence? (ie without looking at the other columns)

Each number in this column is formed by adding the two previous numbers. 

NOTE: this is a rule – it works for every number in the sequence.

Can children continue the sequence by applying the same rule? 

How far do you get before the numbers become too big to manage?

Taking this further

If you’d like to read about Fibonacci’s formula, or explore it mathematically with older children, you’ll find plenty of information online.

Fibonacci Numbers occur frequently in nature, eg in the way flower petals grow, or spirals form. Find out more HERE  

Discover more ideas for investigating the Fibonacci Sequence HERE  

To extend your exploration and discovery, why not make a class collection of maths puzzles and their solutions and create a display or book?

Have fun exploring the rabbit-themed activities in this book...

• Try the rabbit exercises and invent more of your own.

• Hunt for locations of edible foodstuffs, taking notes in a specially-made ration book. (Grass on the field? Packed lunches in the cloakroom/fridge? Biscuits in the staffroom/larder?)

• Grow different varieties of lettuce and compare their taste.

• Design and build a rabbit shelter from recycled bits and pieces. Write reports about what you did, including photographs showing the different stages of construction.

• Research and compile a book of rabbit names, with advice for new rabbit parents.

• Learn how to knit, and make something for a rabbit. A scarf, perhaps?

• Write and publish your own rabbit newspaper.

• Keep a temperature record for a month, marking each day’s reading on a thermometer like Emily’s!

• Try the rabbits’ carrot recipes. Cook something good with carrots!

Observe rabbits in an animal corner or farm park – or in the wild, if you have them nearby. Sketch them and make notes about their behaviour. What else can you find out about these animals? 

Can you write and present a mock television documentary?

Chalk and Lonely in Fibonacci's Field       artwork ©Emily Gravett

Lots of maths ideas are explored in this book. How many can you find? How have they been incorporated into the story or pictures? Forexample: number sequences, weight, length/depth, addition, units of measurement, temperature, tallying, bar graphs, line graphs, ordinal numbers, dates and times

The calendar page for April includes a water-level measurer Look at some problems in a maths textbook. What stories do they tell? 

Choose one of these problems and turn it into an illustrated story.

Challenge children to make up stories about a year in the life of an imaginary character.

Think about ways these stories could be shown on a calendar, then use print-outs or real calendars to create your books. Include special items like invitations, letters in envelopes, tiny books and other extras if you can.

The rabbits' ration book     artwork ©Emily Gravett

What are the names of the rabbits in the first family to occupy the field? Check out the baby book to find out – the parents are called Chalk and Lonely, and their first two babies are Angora and Alfalfa. Are any other rabbits given names?

Some are mentioned in The Fibber newspaper!

Choose a baby rabbit shown in one of the later illustrations and fill in a blank copy of the Bunny’s First Month record book on its behalf.

What does your baby rabbit like to eat and do? Who are his/her friends?

Draw a portrait of your baby rabbit and write about him/her. What would your baby rabbit like to do when she/he grows up?

Put children in small groups, allocate one illustration to each group and ask them to talk about it. 

Assign different rabbit roles to children, choosing characters with different perspectives on the situation: for example, a parent, a teenager and playful baby. What are these characters thinking and feeling? What might they be about to say or do? Use mind-mapping and other notemaking techniques to capture your ideas, then have a go at sitting and moving like these rabbits. How will your particular rabbit character move and behave?

Ask groups to recreate their illustration in-role as a freezeframe. Take photos of each group!

On a given signal, ask groups to bring their scenes to life. What will happen? What will everybody say?

Invite each group to perform, then follow up by writing and illustrating playscripts for each scene.