Mathematics Exploration Extant in The Checker Game: A Mathematics Teaching Contribution

Abstract

Aversion to mathematics shown by learners belonging to different age stages, worries and challenges mathematicians and/ or mathematics teachers to develop surveys which might improve learners´ mathematics learnings. “Thawing” recondite mathematics in several games may aid to provide a different mathematics vision. The current research article aims to identify and analyze the “concealed” mathematics through checker games played in Angola, mostly in Cuando Cubango province. The survey is placed in ethnomathematics and considering its sorts, qualitative methodology has been used supported by a half-structured interview, direct observation to picture recording.  The research was conducted in the Menongue municipality (Cuando Cubango capital city). The three versions of checkers games were described (12 by 12; 10 by 10 and 8 by 8), some questions were created that guided this investigation (Why does the structure of the checkers game have the same number of rows and columns? Why do players when placing checkers pieces in the middle always leave two empty rows? Why is the sum of rows and columns equal to the even number? Why is each painted square on the checkers board corresponds to an odd number?) and, finally, some mathematical concepts involved in that game were explored (such as, for example, the notion of the Cartesian plane, diagonal lines, distance between two points, median (element of Statistics), numbers even and odd).