Mary Makes a Qaspeq

Mary misses her best friend, Christine, whos gone away for the summer to a fish camp. To cheer herself up, Mary goes to visit her grandma and finds her hard at work making a qaspeq, a versatile womens garment that can be worn indoors or out. Marys grandma teaches her how to make a qaspeq herself, and in the process Mary finds out she might not be as lonely as she thought this summer. "Mary Makes a Qaspeq" is part of the "Math in a Cultural Context" series, connecting Yup'ik culture, math and pedagogy. The importance of family bonds and the passing of cultural knowledge from one generation to the next are major themes in the story, which embeds mathematical concepts such as measuring, symmetry and the combination of different shapes to make a final product.… (more)