Math+Multiculturalism=Magic

It has been said that math is the international language.  It is also a subject that terrifies a lot of students.  For both these reasons, it seemed only natural for one school's 4th- and 5th-grade math class to organize a multicultural math fair for the rest of the school.

The students decided on two basic criteria for the games they would have at the fair: They had to demonstrate math's usefulness in everyday life, and they had to speak to the school's cultural diversity.  To this end, the students brainstormed situations in which they used math outside the classroom, and researched traditional games from different countries. 

They each created a game and a colorful gaming station, wrote instructions, and rehearsed in front of the other students to make sure each game made sense and was fun.  They memorialized each game in a "quilt of mathematical knowledge," the quilt itself being both a creation of math and a symbol of many cultures.

Participating students realized that, no matter their level of English proficiency or comfort in school, they could understand and have fun with math problems.

Adapted from "Route to Reform: K-8 service-learning Curriculum Ideas," © 1994-95 National Youth Leadership Council.