Blog 3 "Once Upon A Dime "

Marek Niesiobedzki

Once Upon A Dime

By Nancy Kelly and Alan Doyle  

Part 1 – Beginning  One day a young farmer who’s name is Worth notices a tiny tree in a place on his land where nothing has ever grown before.

Middle-  Worth has some local friend farmers. He also realizes that with the use of organic fertilizer money grows on the tree. His friends including Lewis and Cluck provide chicken dropping fertilizer, Mooly Pitcher provides cow patties and   Mr. Oinkhower provides Worth with Pig droppings.

End- Worth notices that each fertilizer provides and makes the tree grow different amounts of money using each fertilizer however the farmer realizes that not everything is about money, and when dimes grew on the tree the sound it made was beautiful and decided to use only fertilizer that produces dimes , so that the whole neighborhood can enjoy the beautiful sound they make in the winds, while his young helper just wants more money.

Part 2- The mathematical concept is input and output. Based on what fertilizer is used on the money tree, the different coins grow.

At first, after using just one of the natural fertilizers chicken poop”, Nickels grow,  Cow patties  produces pennies and Pig droppings lead to quarters. However, when all of them are combined nickels grow, which are not the highest and most profitable coin to grow but provide a beautiful sound in the air which the farmer enjoys and the rest of the community. This book perfectly describes how a certain input leads to a certain output, demonstrating the concept of functions.

Part 3- The reason why I think that this literature is a spectacular way of teaching math to youngsters is because it demonstrates input and output in a very fun and creative way. Input and output concepts will be used all through our lives, with investments, mortgages, interest rates etc,