Emani's Haircutting

Note: Talo is the Niuean word for the vegetable that is also called taro. If you would like to find out more about Niuean haircutting ceremonies, read “First Haircut”, School Journal, Part 4 Number 3, 1998.

Activity

Finding fractions of a set is the focus of this activity, and it builds on the work done in Activity Two of Hiding in the Swamp on page 14 of the students’ book.
The students might use their knowledge of doubles at the beginning of the activity. Some might need counters or cubes to act out the sharing of the talo. To find a third of the talo (or one of three equal parts), the students have to divide the talo between three people, using a sharing approach. Make this connection with division explicit for the students.
Question 4 challenges the students to make up their own fraction problems. They are likely to need some direction about which numbers would be good to use, for example, 12, 24, and 36 will all yield whole number answers for 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4.

Answers to Activity

1. 12 talo
2. 8 talo
3. 1/4 = 6 talo
4. Practical activity