Published by Australian Academy of Science
Activities | Ethnomathematics – a rich cultural diversity

• Department of Education, Training and Employment, South Australia
  • The development of counting and numeration systems – provides structured lessons for students to find out about different ways of counting and representing numbers.
  • Establish shared knowledge of the context – describes a unit of work in which students develop a local tourist guide.

• Peace Corps (USA)
  • Marshall Islands activities grade 6-9: Stick chart – students learn about stick charts and make one of their own.

• The Math Forum (Drexel University, USA)
  • Mayan arithmetic – shows students how to add and subtract using Mayan symbols.

• Michiel Berger (Netherlands)
  • Maya mathematics – an explanation of the Mayan system of mathematical symbols with an interactive number converter (requires Java).
  • The Maya calendar – introduces students to the Mayan calendar and provides an interactive calendar converter (requires Java).

• Mark Millmore's Ancient Egypt (UK)
  • Egyptian math: Numbers – describes the basic symbols in the Egyptian decimal system and provides problems for students to solve.

• Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (Illinois Institute of Technology, USA)
  • How to use an abacus
  • Boomerang – students make an X-shaped boomerang using two rulers and show that the distance it travels is determined by the angle at which it is thrown.
  • Geometric designs in the game of 'Life' – students predict and generate patterns as they play a board game with counters.

• The abacus: The art of calculating with beads (Ryerson University, Canada)
  • A brief introduction to the abacus – students learn the basics of using an abacus and how it represents numbers. They also compare the Chinese, Japanese and Aztec abacuses.
  • Performing addition on the abacus and Performing subtraction on the abacus – explains how to do these calculations using an abacus.
  • Build a LEGO abacus – instructions and plans for building an abacus.

• The Math Forum (Drexel University, USA)
  • Symmetry and pattern: The art of oriental carpets – introduces the idea of studying symmetry by analysing patterns in carpets. Click on 'Educational resources' for suggestions about student activities (eg, pattern-making, observing symmetry and making tessellations).

• MEGA Mathematics (Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA)
  • Activities with knots – provides a series of activities for students to explore the mathematical connections associated with knots.

• Simon Fraser University (Canada)
  • Quipu: A modern mystery – describes the quipu (knot) used by Incas for accounting and census taking. Click on 'To learn how to make your own quipu' for instructions.

• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (USA)
  • River crossing – students solve a problem of how best to cross a river by breaking the problem down into a series of mathematical steps.

Some games to develop reasoning skills:

• Lawrence Hall of Science (University of California at Berkeley, USA)
  • Shongo networks – students draw a simple pattern without lifting their pencil.
  • Tower of Hanoi – students transfer different size disks from one of three poles to another. Note: Students can play online or build their own game.

• British Go Association (UK)
  • Introduction to the game of Go – gives the background and history of Go, an ancient board game for two players in which stones are moved on a grid with the aim of claiming territory. Click on 'How to play Go' for the rules and an example of a game.

• John Miller Crawford (Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand)
  • A Maori game from Aotearoa New Zealand – students play an interactive game against the computer.

• Scientific Computing and Visualization Group (Boston University, USA)
  • Peg game – online jumping game where students use their mathematical reasoning skills to outwit the computer. (Instructions appear after your first move.)