The Great Number Rumble

by Lee, Cora

• ISBN13: 9781554510313
• ISBN10: 1554510317
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-02-16
• Publisher: Annick Pr

Summary

A school's plan to end arithmetic plus a math-crazy kid equals an entertaining exposé on the wonder of numbers.When the schools in Jeremy's town ban math, there are loud cheers from the kids. Even his teachers happily toss their textbooks. But Jeremy's best friend Sam, a self-proclaimed mathnik, sets out to prove that math is not only important, but fun.In the chapters that follow, Sam reveals math's presence in everyday places, including sports (types of triangles determine how a bike functions); art (artist M.C. Escher combined math patterns with imagination); and nature (ants instinctively calculate dead reckoning -- a navigation tool also used by astronauts). Meanwhile, surprising sidebars offer Jeremy's thoughts on weird concepts that range from chaos theory to cash prizes for new prime numbers. In the end, Jeremy, his teachers and even the Director of Education have to admit that school minus math equals all sorts of trouble.Complete with dozens of amusing real-life math examples, brief bios of seven famous mathematicians, and fun illustrations and diagrams, this innovative introduction to all things arithmetic will win over even the most math-phobic readers.

Author Biography

Cora Lee is scientist and freelance writer whose work includes scientific articles for kids. This is her first book. She lives in Vancouver, B.C.

Gillian O'Reilly is a children's author and the editor of a children's literature magazine. She lives in Toronto.

Virigina Gray is the illustrator of several books for children. She lives in Katoomba, Australia.

Excerpts

Chapter 1 [Note: see end of excerpt for Sidebars interspersed throughout the chapter.] My friend Sam, he's crazy about math. Me (the name's Jeremy), I can do without it. Math has nothing to do with me, and I have nothing to do with it -- except when it comes to homework, and then I'm the kind of guy who needs a calculator desperately. At least, that's what I thought until last fall, when we had our great math debate or, as I like to call it, "The Number Rumble." That was the day when... but wait, first let me tell you about Sam. Sam was still new to the neighborhood when The Number Rumble happened. He had moved in next door a few weeks before school started. At first, I thought he was just like me: tall, dark, and good-looking, well, except that he's got red hair, and the light skin to go with it. And I don't wear glasses. And, okay, so the good-looking part's just an illusion. But we liked the same things, like swimming, blading, biking, video games. There was one major, major difference, though -- he was nuts about numbers and anything else to do with math. Not that he was studying all summer or anything. We goofed around a lot. Pretty soon, he was just Sam to me. A regular guy who saw the world differently -- as numbers, shapes, and patterns. When we started school, everyone thought he was either a genius or a geek. Sam says he's neither. He prefers the word "mathnik" -- thinks it describes us technology-crazy kids perfectly. No way, I said, not me. But Sam says we were all born mathniks. I wasn't so sure about that, but there's no arguing with the guy. Anyway, Sam's low-key about his talent -- doesn't make a big deal about it. "Math is nothing special," he's always saying. "It's everywhere and in everything, and we all use it, not just me." Well, one day, he had to prove it. When the news first broke, there was cheering across the city. The director of education for our region had just announced that he was cutting math from the curriculum. No more math? Great, I thought. But when Sam's mom told him the news at breakfast, he said he jumped a mile -- wait, Sam prefers metric, so make that 1.609 kilometers -- out of his chair, like he was on fire. And he wasn't jumping for joy. He rushed straight upstairs to his computer to check out the details. Scanning the headlines, he clicked on "Goodbye Math: Kids Face Regional Math Ban": Mathematics will be removed from the school curriculum, effective immediately, director of education Lawrence Lake announced today. Lake says he has been considering the move for months, and believes that removing the topic will have little impact on students. "All kids need is a bit of basic arithmetic: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division," Lake said. "Heck, they can use calculators for most of that. Math isn't much more anyway. I mean, who needs the extra stress? Budgets bother me, statistics stump me, fractions frazzle me -- if I'm having so much trouble with math, how's the average student or teacher going to get through it?" Asked what parents and teachers thought, Lake cited widespread support for the move, saying many of them shared his views and were certain that children would experience less stress without mathematics. Sam told me he lost it then. He was so mad, he just threw on yesterday's clothes lying on the floor (hey, mathniks dump their clothes on the floor like the rest of us) and ran right over. That tells you how upset he was. Normally, he's the mix'n'match master -- he'd be consulting this big chart on his closet door for different combinations, never wearing the same thing twice. Sam just about exploded through the door at my house. "Jeremy! Did you hear the news? No more math!" "Sounds good to me," I responded immediately. "Are you kidding? No more fractions! No more percents! Geometry and graphs, gone. In all