Students love to find out when math gets used in everyday real life, especially in reference to ancient and historical cultures. There are a lot of creative uses outside the traditional math curriculum that students love to research!

This project allows students to delve deep into any ancient math used in the past: things like Aztec and mayan calendars, Chinese tangrams, Indian decimal system we use today, Egyptian fractions, Navajo rug designs, Mancala game developed in Africa, Mayan and Hindu cultures developing the concept of zero, ancient number systems (Egyptian, Mayan, Yoruba, etc)., the abacus.

Students first choose a topic which gets approved by the teacher before starting their actual project. A rubric is included for the teacher.

I had students create Powerpoints, sing, rap, pretend to be a teacher, do an activity with students with a wide variety of different topics chosen. The day I watched these presentations was one of the most fun days for me in the entire school year! A great way to bring different math viewpoints into the classroom and a nice break from traditional math for students.