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Dive deep into the world of ethnomathematics with Our Math Roots. Our platform unveils the rich tapestry that binds mathematical concepts, cultures, and histories together. Our Math Roots is dedicated to providing an inclusive approach to math education.
We urge the importance of getting to know your students and learning about who they are as people and not just students before implementing any of these lessons. Without thinking critically about your student population these lessons will not fully convey the meaning and value they intend. In the teacher guides you will see that each lesson provides suggestions and options for engaging students. Make decisions for which resources to use that best serve your students. Each lesson follows the following structure:
- Hook – How can you begin to spark interest in your students and engage them for the rest of the lesson?
- Mathematical Exploration – How can students explore, research, experiment and experience the math content?
- Relevance Explored – How can students see the connection between identity and mathematics? How is this math relevant in history, origin, location, culture, religion, etc? What about this ties to or can be applied to the present? What ethical issues have surfaced?
- Discussion — How can you have students debrief and talk with one another about the mathematical relevance they have learned? How can students share any of their own personal connections?
- Extensions – What are options for you to extend lessons to meet your students interests beyond what the lesson covered?
Our Most Recent Lesson

Tessellations in West African Hair Braiding
Mathematical Topics: Tessellations, Transformations Relevance: West Africa Suggested Age: K-12th Suggested Course: Geometry, PatternsLesson Summary: This lesson intends to explore tessellations in West African hair braiding. Students will learn about the origins of...
Explore Math’s Origins
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Below you’ll find our resources which are filterable by their age group and mathematical topic.

Tessellations in West African Hair Braiding

Density in Dominican Cakes compared to American Cakes

Hypatia of Alexandria & Conic Sections

Ancient Egyptian Base 10 Number System & Doubling Method

Maya Calendar & Base 20 Number System

Ancient Babylon Base 60 Number System

The Origins of Fibonacci’s Sequence

African Baskets & Regular Polygon Rotations

Ancient Mathematical Puzzles: Magic Squares and Hexagonal Tortoises

Oracle Bones & Counting Rods

Ishango & Lebombo Bone
