Dishes Problem

My strategy was to solve the problem visually and really just count up by 13 until I reached the number I was looking for. I think representation matters and for far too long, certain students have not seen themselves or their culture represented in their education. Although having a problem like this included in a class may not make a huge difference, I think it is important for teachers to use problems from different cultures and perhaps students will feel increasingly comfortable sharing their own culture. In my opinion, using historical problems from different cultures is a much better way of diversifying than coming up with trite problems that just end up appropriating or disrespecting different cultures (this is mostly what I saw in my education). I think different stories and imageries will resonate with different students and either increase or decrease their enjoyment. The main goal is to use a variety of puzzle stories from different cultures in order to communicate that Mathematics was developed in different cultures all over the world - it is a human experience and not limited to one group of people.