Why the Roimata Toroa (Tears of an albatross) pattern?

A long time ago, there was a man named Pourangahua who loved growing sweet potatoes, or kumara. He lived on the east coast of New Zealand. One day, he needed more kumara to plant, so he traveled back to a special place called Hawaiki to get some.

Pourangahua came back home riding on the backs of two big albatrosses. He was so happy to be home that he forgot to say a thank you prayer. Instead, he ran straight to his wife, whom he missed very much. The albatrosses, feeling sad because Pourangahua didn’t say his prayer, started to cry.

When Pourangahua saw the albatrosses crying, he remembered he needed to say his prayer. But it was too late. When the albatrosses flew back to Hawaiki, they were attacked by evil spirits. The god Ruakapanga was very upset because his albatrosses were hurt.

To get back at Pourangahua, Ruakapanga sent insects to eat all the sweet potatoes he had just planted. That’s why, in the old stories, this event is remembered as a lesson about the importance of saying thank you and doing things at the right time.

Algebra Exercises designed for different Mathematics curriculum levels

Mathematics MINZC Level 2/3: Algebra of the Roimata Toroa pattern

Please click on each of the worksheets below to view fully or download