Multicultural Classroom Posters Sets 1 & 2

Multicultural Classroom Posters (Set 1: China, Japan, Mayans, and Africa; Set 2: Arabia, Europe, Navajos, and India)  Each set of four posters (24.5” by 37”) costs $36.95 and is available from Key Curriculum Press, 1150 65th Street, Emeryville, CA  94608. 1-800-995-MATH or www.keypress.com

These posters can be bought singly or in sets. Each collection provides historical information about the mathematics of a particular culture or region.

The graphics are bright and vibrant, and the colors and geometrical designs are certainly eye-catching. Although the posters are large, it is extremely difficult to read the information without being quite close. The historical article at the bottom of each poster is informative and enlightening, but must students probably will not get close enough to read them. The graphics alone could easily be discussed in a geometry classroom.

The posters of India, China, Europe and Japan provide information on numeration systems and algorithmic procedures. These topics would provide a great deal of insight to students who are learning operations with our decimal system. They can also compare our present-day methods of computation to those of our ancestors. The other posters, however, seem to provide only geometric designs that are found in those cultures.

Since multi-culturalism is certainly high on the list of today’s educators, I feel that these posters do serve a purpose. If the written information would also be presented in a reprintable format, however, I think that the students could gain some valuable insights into other cultures as well as their influence on our own mathematics.

Lynn Godshall, Susquehanna Township High School,  Harrisburg, PA