Blog Post #3

1. In the child's book Lemonade For Sale by Stuart J. Murphy, four kids set out to sell lemonade in order to raise money to repair their clubhouse. In the story they decide to use a bar graph to track their sales and how much money they are making. For three days the keep count of their sales with this bar graph and they notice drops and spikes in their sales.
2. The math concept that is shown in this book is bar graphs. The kids are able to see that graphs are not just a pointless concept that we learn in math class, but they are also useful in real life situations. With the help of their bar graphs, these children could see in physical form how their sales were changing and they could use this data to help them change what they did with their lemonade business. They could compare different graphs and this would help them to set and achieve their goals and this is also true in other life situations.
3.  I believe that literature is an effective way to teach math concepts because it allows you to see how math is able to be used in real life. I think that one of the problems with getting students interested in what they are learning is that they never understand why what they are learning is necessary and why they need to know how to do it. It can be tough to understand why things such as graphing equations are needed for us to learn. But through things such as stories or literature, students can realize what math concepts are necessary for life and they see the ways in which they are used and applied to our everyday lives. So yes, literature is a helpful and effective way to try and teach math concepts with more understanding and appreciation.