Exploring Ethnomathematics in the Context of Fishing Squids (Pambubo) in Gigantes Islands, Philippines

Abstract

Teaching mathematics in the context of cultural groups is one of the priorities in the mathematics curriculum of the Philippines. These include localization, contextualization, and indigenization of mathematics instructions. The study of ethnomathematics is a special way of deriving mathematical concepts that are embedded in the practices and activities of cultural groups. This study explored the ethnomathematics in the context of Pambubo (fishing squids through traps). This study highlights the ethnomathematical concepts generated from the preparation of materials to the selling of squids. The ethnomathematical concepts present in the activities of Pambuboinclude basic counting, measurement and estimation, ratio and proportion, operations in whole numbers, fractions, and decimals, lines, angles, triangles, quadrilaterals, solid figures, distance, volume, time, average, surface area, and even mathematics of investment that are being applied by the fisherfolks. This study shows that the island community has strong ethnomathematical concepts that can be utilized by educators in teaching and learning mathematics