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Salmon Fishing: Investigations into Probability (Math in a Cultural Context: Lessons Learned from Yup'ik Eskimo Elders)
Salmon Fishing Investigations into Probability - Math in a Cultural Context: Lessons Learned from Yup'ik Eskimo Elders Author:Aishath Shehenaz Adam, Jerry Lipka, Barbara L. Adams Intended for grade levels 6 and 7, this module consists of nine activities. Each activity includes an introduction, goals, materials used, preparation needed before class, vocabulary, and instructions for the activity. Suggestions for assessment or homework and additional review problems are given in selected activities, and selected games of ch... more »ance that can be explored are given in the appendix. Activity 9 is a culminating activity that pulls together what students have learned throughout the module and involves students creating games of chance. Also, probability vocabulary cycles throughout the module. Students may not be able to grasp the vocabulary initially and may be able to comprehend better as they become familiar with different probability concepts. Literacy and vocabulary activities have been included in this module. This module includes the perspectives of a Yup'ik subsistence fisherman, Frederick George and his family, who know the summer cycle of salmon entering the river and when it is a good time to catch different species of salmon. Knowledge of when to fish, how to fish, and where to fish changes the probability of catching a fish. Although concepts of probability are not used explicitly in the Yup'ik culture, the module taps into the everyday experiences of the Yup'ik people, including the embedded cultural values and Yup'ik games of chance where concepts of probability such as fairness are explored. These everyday experiences are used in the module as background knowledge and as a motivating factor for students to actively participate and enjoy learning the underlying mathematical concepts. The kit includes: 1 Slamon Fishing text, 2 posters, and 2 CDs (The Yup'ik Glossary and the Excel Template).« less