Teaching and learning materials

The purpose of this exercise is to explore multicultural/-lingual aspects of body part mathematics – counting and measuring – for this procedure varies in different cultures.

The pupils are asked to work through six worksheets focussing on number systems and units of length.

Worksheet 1: The class reads a text about measuring units related to body parts. Afterwards they talk in English or their L1 about this procedure of measuring. Each pupil writes down an example for a mathematical problem.

Worksheet 2: Everyone writes down words which represent different parts of human hands and arms in English and their L1.
Worksheet 3: Here, a text about the numeric system of New Guinea is to be read. The Country should be found on the map. The second task is to find body parts that represent measuring units which are not mentioned in the text. Then, they should be written down in English and in the pupils' L1.

Worksheet 4: A short text about a potential body part measuring is provided. After having read the text, the class is divided into pairs. They compare the names of measures in different languages (English, French, Czech and Italian) and complete a table. Finally, the whole class discusses examples of body part measuring and counting in their countries.

Worksheet 5: The pupils read a text about different measuring systems and where they used to be applied. The mentioned countries should be found on the map. Then the pupils compare two arithmetic problems, convert to base 20 and try to think of more problems. At last, the class talks about the number systems in their countries.
Worksheet 6: This worksheet is supposed to be used by the teacher only. The teacher can talk about how numbers used to be represented in a symbolic manner (pictures, colours etc.) by different cultures. The teacher writes down a table with numbers on the blackboard, asking the class whether there is a way to memorise them easily.

Duration: 6x20