Article reproduced 2003 with permission of the ISGEm Newsletter editor for use in the Ethnomathematics Digital Library (www.ethnomath.org) developed by Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (www.prel.org).
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Originally
published in the International Study Group on Ethnomathematics (ISGEm)
Newsletter, Volume 11, Number 1, December 1995. Located at: http://web.nmsu.edu/~pscott/isgem111.htm. Article reproduced 2003 with permission of the ISGEm Newsletter editor for use in the Ethnomathematics Digital Library (www.ethnomath.org) developed by Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (www.prel.org). |
Have You Seen
"Have You Seen" is a regular feature of the ISGEm Newsletter in which works related to Ethnomathematics can be reviewed. We encourage all those interested to contribute to this column.
Gerdes, Paulus, African Pythagoras: A Study in Culture and Mathematics Education, Universidade Pedagógica, Maputo, Mozambique, 1994. (Available from the author at P.O. Box 3276, Maputo, Mozambique).
This translation of a 1992 Portuguese version includes the
following chapters:
Did ancient Egyptian artisans know how to find
a square equal in area to two given squares?
From woven buttons to the Theorem of Pythagoras
From fourfold symmetry to 'Pythagoras'
'Pythagoras', similar triangles and the "elephants'
defense" pattern of the Bakuba
Widespread decorative motif & Theorem of
Pythagoras
From weaving patterns to Pythagoras & magic
squares
A new proof by means of limits
A new proof related to an ancient Egyptian
decoration technique
Gerdes, Paulus, Ethnomathematics and Education in Africa, Institute of Education, Stockholm University, 1995.
This report was published within the framework of the institutional cooperation that started in 1991 between the Institute of International Education (IIE), Stockholm University and what is now the Universidade Pedagógica in Maputo, Mozambique. It includes the following chapters:
Ethnomathematical research: preparing a response to a major
challenge in mathematics education in Africa
On the concept of ethnomathematics
How to recognize hidden geometrical thinking:
a contribution to the development of an anthropology of mathematics
On culture, geometrical thinking and mathematics
education
A widespread decorative motif and the Theorem
of Pythagoras
'Pythagoras', similar triangles and the "elephants'
defense" pattern of the Bakuba
On possible uses of traditional Angolan sand
drawings in the mathematics classroom
Exploration of the mathematical potential of
'SONA': an example of stimulating cultural awareness in mathematics teacher
education
Technology, Art, Games and Mathematics Education:
an example
On the history of mathematics in Africa south
of the Sahara
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Villalobos, Leslie, Un Enfoque Humano de la Matemática (A Human Focus on Mathematics), Editorial EARTH, Apartado Postal 4442-1000, Guácimo, Limón, Costa Rica, 1995.
This book, written by a mathematics instructor at the Agricultural School for the Humid Tropical Region (Escuela de Agricultura de la Región Tropical H™meda - EARTH), motivates the study of mathematical techniques by presenting problem situations such as "Sustainable Agriculture", "Learning to Produce", "War and Peace", "An Arab Legend", "Mathematical Bees" and "Heron Rides Again".
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Zaslavsky, Claudia, The Multicultural Classroom: Bringing tin the World, Heinemann, 361 Hanover St, Portsmouth, NH, 03801-3912, USA ($26.50), 1995.
Claudia Zaslavsky's new book introduces a multicultural perspective to the elementary and middle grade math curriculum, revealing how such a perspective can enrich the learning of all students, whatever their gender, ethnic/racial heritage, or socioeconomic status. Students learn that mathematics was created by real people attempting to solve real problems. They're asked to solve the same kinds of problems and to extend their problem solving to issues within their communities.
The chapters included are:
Overview of Multicultural Education
Multicultural Mathematics Curriculum
The Mathematics-Literature Connection
Counting with Fingers and Words
Numerals: Symbols for Numbers
Recording and Calculating: Tallies, Knots and
Beads
How People Use Numbers
Geometry and Measurement in Architecture
Geometry, Measurement and Symmetry in Art
Data Analysis and the Culture of the Community
Games of Many Cultures
Multicultural Mathematics in Practice