World Report: November 10, 1995 Vol.1 No.8
- This Issue:
- Table of Contents
- Cover Story
- Cover Story - Spanish Version
- Mini-Lesson
- Comprehension Quiz
- Teacher's Guide and Worksheets
A New Way To Count
Kids everywhere learn to count at an early age. For kids in Alaska who speak an Eskimo language called Inupiaq (In-noo-pee-ack), it goes like this: atausiq (a-tow-sek), malruk (mal-roke), pingasut (ping-a-suit), sisamat (sis-a-mutt).
But until recently, Inupiaq speakers had no way to write their numbers down. Now some sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders have solved this math problem. Students at the Harold Kaveolook School on Barter Island in the Arctic Ocean invented a brand-new numeral system. "We were making this for our people," explains Bailey Taktuk Ashanna, 14.
The students invented 20 numerals (0 to 19) rather than the 10 we use, because their system is based on counting 20 fingers and toes. "Any numeral you can write in Arabic numerals can be converted to these," says their teacher, Clark Bartley.
The project was a big hit. The school district and the Alaska state legislature gave the kids special awards. The new numbers are taught in Inupiat schools. Grownups study them at a college in Barrow, Alaska.
The Commission on Inupiat History, Language and Culture will soon vote on adopting the new system for all Inupiat people. If they vote yes, the numerals could be used by people from Russia to Greenland.
"I've never been in a project that might go around the world," says Alicia Pagualak Rexford, 12. "People everywhere want to learn it," says Peter Nageak Chandler, 14, "and that feels great."
