Drying Salmon Curriculum Kit

Journeys into Proportional and Pre-Algebraic Thinking

By: Barbara L. Adams, Jerry Lipka

The mathematics in this module, designed for grades 6-7, is set in the context of the Yup'ik people's tradition of catching, cutting, and hanging salmon to dry as a way of preserving food for the long winters. Students learn a body measurement system and its relationship to typical sizes of salmon. Students will also transform their own measurements into mathematical symbols as a way to investigate variables, relationships, proportions, and algebraic thinking. The kit includes the teacher's curriculum, three posters, and Yup'ik glossary on CD-ROM.

Drying Salmon: Journeys into Proportional and Pre-Algebraic Thinking is part of the Math in a Cultural Context series, a supplemental math curriculum based on the traditional wisdom and practices of the Yup'ik Eskimo people of southwest Alaska.