High School Mathematics Problems from Alaska
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Subsistence
Fishing on the Kenai
Bobbi
Jordan
bew2@ptialaska.net
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Standards:
Estimation
and Computation.
Performance
Standards: A3.3.2,
A3.3.3, A3.4.5, A3.4.6, A3.3.6
Concepts: Estimation,
Ratios, Percents, d = r x t
Carnegie
Chapter: Proportional
Reasoning and Percentages.
Overview:
The
following unit deals with dip net fishing on the Kenai River during
the month of July in Alaska. It is an activity on estimation and
determining reasonable solutions to a problem. It also reviews
ratios, percents, and rate problems. All of the numbers are contrived
and can be substituted with friendlier numbers if the teacher feels
that this activity is necessary.
It might be nice to
discuss the different ways that people of Alaska subsistence fish for
salmon. The process on the Kenai is to drift with large nets down the
mouth of the river in order to dip nets for reds. It is an
interesting process even on a slow day, since groups of boats
essentially travel in a circuit, drifting down the river, then
powering back up, then drifting back down once more.
Subsistence
Fishing on the Kenai River
Jenna went to
subsistence fish for sockeye salmon at the mouth of the Kenai River.
She knew that her dad drifted their boat for _ of a mile before
motoring back up the river to drift the same section of river. She
also noted that all the other subsistence-fishing boats averaged 2
nets apiece.
- On the first _
mile drift, Jenna counted 55 boats powering back upstream. She
counted 42 boats on their second drift, and 51 boats on their
third drift. Without making any calculations, what is the
estimated number of boats that powered upstream past Jennas
boat? Explain how you arrived at your answer.
- Jenna also knew that for
every boat powering up the river there was another boat drifting down. Approximately
how many boats were on the same 1/4 mile stretch of river?
- If each
subsistence vessel averaged 2 nets apiece, how many nets were
dipnetting for sockeye salmon in this area?
- Anchored in the same 1/4
mile stretch of river, Jenna counted 55 commercial fishing vessels that were
not fishing. What was the ratio of commercial vessels to subsistence vessels
in the area?
- What was the
total number of boats?
- What percent of
the vessels were subsistence vessels?
- What percent of
the vessels were commercial vessels?
- If it took 20
minutes to drift downstream before powering back, how fast was
Jennas boat drifting?
- In two hours,
Jenna and her dad netted 32 sockeye. What was the average number
of fish caught in each drift if it took 20 minutes to drift down
and 5 minutes to power back up the river?
- When Jenna and
her dad went back to the dock, the Department of Fish and Game
protection officer was surveying boats to get an estimate of the
number of fish being caught. Jenna told her that they caught 32,
another boat tied up and counted 45 fish, and a third boat also
tied up and had 27. What was the average number of fish caught by
all three boats?
- Use your
average for question #10 to predict how many fish were harvested
in two hours if all the boats that Jenna estimated on the river
stopped their fishing after two hours.
- If each sockeye
caught averaged a weight of 10 pounds, what was the approximate
number of pounds of fish caught in the two hours?
- Jenna and her
dad can each fillet a 10-pound sockeye in approximately 10
minutes. Approximately how long would it take them to fillet all
the sockeye that they harvested in the past two hours?
Table of
Contents
For the Teacher's Guides, please email Alaska
Native Knowledge Network
Handbook
for Culturally Responsive Science Curriculum by Sidney Stephens
Excerpt: "The information and insights contained in this document will be
of interest to anyone involved in bringing local knowledge to bear in school
curriculum. Drawing upon the efforts of many people over a period of several
years, Sidney Stephens has managed to distill and synthesize the critical ingredients
for making the teaching of science relevant and meaningful in culturally adaptable
ways." |