The Golden Ratio Poster

A golden ratio maths poster that shows the maths and the beauty

Richard Phillips designed this piece as a visual way into the golden ratio. It is a classic illustrated poster, made for classroom display.

It presents the ratio as a picture and as a calculation: pupils see the proportion first, then meet the mathematics behind it. That pairing makes it a maths education poster with two ways in.

Using this maths education poster in secondary teaching

In the classroom, this works well when the poster sits near the board during a geometry topic. Pupils can measure rectangles and spirals and compare their results with the printed diagrams. Unlike a maths reference chart, it invites pupils to test the ratio rather than look it up.

Among Tarquin's classroom prints, this maths poster is best suited to Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 mathematics teaching on ratio and irrational numbers. Words such as proportion and irrational then join pupils' maths vocabulary through something they have measured. It also gives younger, curious students something to study between lessons, and the resource stays useful well beyond a single topic.

Pair it with the Fibonacci Numbers poster

This design works especially well alongside Tarquin's Fibonacci Numbers poster. A natural next step is to show how ratios of consecutive Fibonacci numbers approach the golden ratio: two of Tarquin's maths education posters side by side, one idea linking them. For A-level students, the same small poster set opens a discussion of sequences and limits.

Golden ratio poster size and finish

The poster size suits a full classroom wall rather than a small noticeboard.

• A1 poster size (840 × 600 mm): large enough to read from the back of a classroom
• Printed on thick paper
• Also available encapsulated, for longer life on a busy classroom wall

Hang this educational poster beside a ruler and a few photographs. Your class can then find the ratio in the pictures themselves.