Laura Romero's Blog Post # 3

Rock, Brock, and the Savings Shock, by Sheila Bair, is a book about two twin brothers who earn money for ten weeks in the summer from doing errands for their grandfather. Rock was a tidy boy who liked to buy things, and Brock was messy and lazy, but he liked to save. The first week, their grandfather gave them one dollar, and promised them that every Saturday he would match the amount of money they had saved. Rock spent his dollar every week, while Brock saved the money and every week he would double his savings. The brothers learned the importance of savings in those ten weeks of summer.
The book illustrates the concept of exponential growth in a way that kids can clearly understand. Both brothers started with one dollar each, the second week, the brother who saved his previous dollar earned another one, so having 2 dollars, the following week he gained two dollars, making his total savings $4. The 3rd week the amount doubled to $8, and on the 4th week it went up to $16, and so on it kept doubling until the 10th week, when he reached $512. This book represents the growth pattern 2^n for n greater than or equal to zero. The  book creatively explains the concept of doubling and exponential growth by teaching kids a valuable lesson about managing and saving money.
I believe that literature is a great way to explain mathematical concepts to kids because it simplifies complicated concepts such as exponential growth, and presents it in a way that kids will understand and be able to apply to their everyday lives. It also makes learning math easier at school.