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How Do Octopi Eat Pizza Pie? by Susan Darwin; Beth Grout; David McCoy Review by: David J. Whitin The Arithmetic Teacher, Vol. 41, No. 2 (OCTOBER 1993), p. 122 Published by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41195934 . Accessed: 12/06/2014 16:19 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Arithmetic Teacher. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 62.122.73.250 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 16:19:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

How Do Octopi Eat Pizza Pie?by Susan Darwin; Beth Grout; David McCoy

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How Do Octopi Eat Pizza Pie? by Susan Darwin; Beth Grout; David McCoyReview by: David J. WhitinThe Arithmetic Teacher, Vol. 41, No. 2 (OCTOBER 1993), p. 122Published by: National Council of Teachers of MathematicsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41195934 .

Accessed: 12/06/2014 16:19

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

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National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to The Arithmetic Teacher.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.250 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 16:19:38 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

To move, the user creates equations using the equation generator at the bottom of the screen. Three random numbers are presented, along with the arithmetic operators +, -, and X, the parentheses, and the equals sign. Only those characters presented may be used in the equation, and each may be used only once. To score points, the player must move through the tunnels and pick up value objects by landing on them. After each move, the equation generator clears to allow the next move. New random numbers are supplied, and the operators and parentheses are restored. When the player "rabbit" has landed on three value objects, an invitation icon appears. When the rabbit lands on it, the user may move to the next level on the way toward the surface.

In "Pepper Soup," the student uses a knowledge of probability to try to pop all the bubbles. The "cook" shakes the pepper shakers and then shows their tops, which have dot patterns similar to dice, indicating the goal number. The student must choose from one to nine bubbles whose numbers sum to the goal number. Each bubble chosen to correctly total the goal then "pops" prior to the next goal number's being revealed. The object of the game is to pop all the bubbles before getting a goal number that cannot be made using the remaining bubbles. When a goal number is given that cannot be made with the remaining bubbles, the chance is over. If all the bubbles are used, the player wins the game, and the baby turns into a pig, just as in the scene from Alice 's Adventures in Wonderland. The game also ends when all the chances have been used.

In "Mad Hatter's Tea Party," the student tries to fill all the cups in a "mad" tea set, but filling one cup affects the contents of all the cups around it. This game allows the student to practice using visual reasoning and symmetry.

In "Who' s That Card?" the player must deduce the identity of the cards by using clues presented after each guess. This version of the classic MECC mathematics program Bagels is similar to the board game "Master Mind." To play effectively, the student must make guesses in an organized manner, using information from previous guesses to hypothesize about what the cards might be. The player wins the game by correctly guessing the face value for each suit. Three smiling faces are shown. The player is then returned to the game menu.

Finally, in "Hedgehog Croquet," the student uses a knowledge of factors and primes to try to get more points than the Queen of Hearts. This is a version of the classic MECC mathematics program Taxman. To play, the user takes any numbered hedgehog if it has a factor (other than itself) on the croquet ground. The Queen gets all the factors ofthat number on the croquet ground. When no hedgehog is left that has a factor on the croquet ground, the Queen gets all the leftover hedgehogs. The player may decide to try to let the Queen win or to come as close as possible to a tie.

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Conclusion

This set of logic games proffers many hours of challenges for students. It is designed for those students with experience in Nintendo-type products, therefore becoming nothing but a source of frustration for those students without the background to know the processes for success. The teacher can modify the programs in many ways to meet the ability levels desired. The supplementary materials contain many insights on appropriate ways to integrate these games into a variety of content lessons. - Cathy Brown.

For Students

Angus Thought He Was Big, A Graham and W. Wood. 1991, 16-pp. big book + teaching guide, $16.95. Macmillan Whole-Language Big Book Program, P.O. Box 938, Hicksville, NY 11802-9820.

A young boy named Angus thought he was big until he saw Ernie, a tall clown. He then thought Ernie was big until he saw Alice, a large elephant. He then thought Alice was big until he saw the entire circus. Angus keeps revising his notion of what is really big as he launches himself into a rocket and views cities, mountains, the world, and outer space. The story ends with Angus playing with some small outer-space creatures and wondering, "Angus thought he was small until ..." Thus, the ending of the story would serve as a good springboard for students to create another predictable story that highlights successively smaller creatures than Angus encounters. The book could also be tied to other stories that discuss relative comparisons, such as Robert Kalan's Blue Sea (New York: Greenwillow Books, 1979) and Tana Hoban's Big Ones, Little Ones (New York: Greenwillow Books, 1976).- David J. Whitin.

Bea's Four Bears, Martha Weston. 1992, 28 pp., $9.95 cloth. ISBN 0-395-57791-8. Clarion Books, 215 Park Ave., S., New York, NY 10003.

This book for young readers describes the adventures of four bears and their playful owner.

Edited by Keith Chong School District 42 Maple Ridge, ВС V2X 8N6 Thomas O'Shea Simon Fraser University Burnaby, ВС V5A 1S6 David J. Whitin University of South Carolina Columbia, SC 29208

Bea sets all four bears in a wagon as she heads off for a picnic. Nighty Bear falls out of the crowded wagon, and so she places him under a tree with her dog Bingo as she and the other three bears continue their journey. As the afternoon progresses, each bear leaves the group; Silly Bear falls into the peanut butter during their picnic and must be hung up on the line to dry; Heavy Bear gets lost under a blanket; and Dumpy Bear is hidden in a toy truck. However, one by one Bea recovers her bears, and the happy group is together again as the story concludes.

The story nicely shows the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction as the bears disappear and reappear. The author reiterates the current number of bears by placing a numeral and a series of dots in the corner of each page. Another strength of the book is the way the subtraction and addition process is illustrated. For instance, as Bea washes off Silly Bear and hangs him out to dry, readers can clearly see the other two bears sitting in the sandbox in the background, showing 3-1=2. Later on, when Bea takes Silly Bear down from the clothesline, the other two bears sit on the lawn and watch her, showing 2+1=3. Thus, the process of addition and subtraction is clearly stated and does not seem forced but rather reflects the normal activities of a busy day. - David J. Whitin.

How Do Octopi Eat Pizza Pie? Susan Darwin, Beth Grout, and David McCoy, eds. 1992, 63pp., $13.95 cloth. ISBN 0-8094-9950- 9. Time- Life for Children, 777 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314,

This book is part of a series titled I Love Math; they are books intended for parents to use with their children, although teachers could use them in their classrooms as well. Fourteen chapters address a variety of mathematical topics: capacity, weight, patterns, plane and solid shapes, and fractions, as well as games and puzzles that require some deductive reasoning. Readers are introduced to number patterns through the use of the function machine that either adds a fixed quantity to, or subtracts it from, the original number. Other activities ask children to color circular and rectangular pieces of paper as if they were pizzas and to fold them in different ways to show fractional parts. At the bottom of each page are additional experiences that parent and child might do together; in this present example readers are encouraged to divide an apple into quarters so that they can view equal partitioning in a more three-dimensional manner. This book presents a good variety of experiences for students in the primary grades. - David J. Whitin.

Iťs about Time! Lee Bennett Hopkins. 1 993, 36pp., $14cloth. ISBN 0-67 1-785 12-5. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 15 Columbus Cir., New York, NY 10023.

ARITHMETIC TEACHER

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