Format
1. The program begins with humorous stories to illustrate the author’s lifelong curiosity about numbers, especially big numbers, and how important they are in everyone’s life.
2. We then look at a few of the author’s non-fiction books from the perspective of how math connects to books and to the real world, and how an author can tie the two together.
3. Using props and the storyline of his book On Beyond a Million, David shows how to understand our number system in a way that children (and teachers) find fascinating and suspenseful. He develops the concept of exponents and place value in a tangible way that correlates with Common Core standards. If appropriate to the audience, he shows why it makes sense that, paradoxically, 10^0 = 1.
4. If time allows (or the coordinator requests), David shows how fractions, decimals and division relate to each other by negative exponents (again using visuals and props).
5. If time allows (or coordinator requests), David will demonstrating the power of exponential growth in order to appreciate the enormity of large numbers like googol (10^100). The method draws on students’ everyday experience in a way they can understand.
Objectives
Participants will gain understanding of:
1. Place value in a visual and memorable way
2. The concept of exponents in an equally visual way, and use of expanded notation to denote them
3. The power of exponential growth
Participants will gain an appreciation of
1. the value of curiosity about their world
2. the value of math as a tool to understand the world (and the mathematical connection to science)
3. math as an enjoyable activity and useful activity, not dry drudgery
Participants will be encouraged to mimic the author’s process by researching and mathematically exploring examples of their own, deriving from this program and the author’s books as mentor texts.
Standards Alignment
National Standards
CCSS, p. 27, Grade 4: Mathematics
• P. 27 (1): “Students generalize their understanding of place value to 1,000,000, understanding the relative sizes of numbers in each place.”
• p. 29: Number and Operations in Base Ten 4.NBT
Generalize place value understanding for multi-digit whole numbers
1. Recognize that in a multi-digit whole number, a digit in one place represents ten times what it represents in the place to the right.
2. Read and write multi-digit whole numbers using base ten-numerals, number names, and expanded form. Compare two-multi-digit numbers based on meanings of the digits in each place, using >,=, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons.
3. Use place value understanding to round multi-digit whole numbers to any place.
2. CCSS, pp. 34-35, Grade 5
• P. 35: Number and Operations in Base Ten 5.NBT
1. Recognize that in a multi-digit number, a digit in one place represents 10 times as much as in the place to its right and 1/10 of what it represents to its left.
CCSS Mathematical Process Standards
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively
4. Model with mathematics
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning
CCSS Reading Standards for Informational Text, “Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details. Summarize the text”
CCSS Writing Standards: “Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly”