Maths and the Weather

Excerpt from the Australian Association of Maths Teachers:

Australia has a range of seasons. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples recognise a number of distinct seasons that vary by Country and language group, driven by ecological and environmental indicators: the flowering of particular plants, the behaviour of animals, the direction of winds, the rise of stars. This is sophisticated, accumulated knowledge, refined over tens of thousands of years of observation on Country. 

The Bureau of Meteorology (the BOM) website hosts a wide range of Indigenous Seasonal Calendars documented in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities from across Australia: https://www.bom.gov.au/.../indigenous-seasonal-calendars. 

Each calendar is specific to Country and reflects both the ecological and climatic diversity across Australia, and the deep knowledge held by traditional owners. These calendars are also mathematically rich. They raise questions that are genuinely worth exploring with students, such as ‘How do you partition a year without a fixed number of equal divisions?’ or ‘How might seasonal knowledge be represented mathematically, and what are the limitations of those representations?’

Two related resources worth bookmarking:

 ABC Education's Many Lands, Many Seasons series  https://www.abc.net.au/.../many-lands-many-seasons/101745488 which explores six Aboriginal seasonal calendars through short videos.

 The CSIRO website  https://www.csiro.au/.../Indigenous-knowledge/Calendars, which presents a series of Indigenous seasonal calendars in visual poster-style form. 

The BOM, ABC and CSIRO resources are a starting point. But the most valuable knowledge about seasonal patterns on your local Country sits with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community in your area. 

Incorporating First Nations knowledge into mathematics is not simply a matter of inclusion - it is part of what it means to teach the curriculum and all students well. Seasonal calendars are one of the most accessible and mathematically genuine entry points available to maths teachers, especially at the early primary level. What season are you in, where you live?