Blog 3: Mathematics in a story

I chose the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In this book, it begins with a little egg where a little (and hungry) caterpillar is born. The first day, he ate 1 apple. The next day he ate 2 pears, but was still hungry. And the next day, 3 plums. Then 4 strawberries, then 5 oranges. He was still hungry and ate many things on Saturday, then he felt sick. On Sunday he ate 1 green leaf and felt better. He was no longer a little caterpillar and was now a large one. After eating so much, he formed a cocoon and became a beautiful butterfly.

The first day he ate 1 thing, then 2, then 3, and so on. Everyday he eats an amount of something, then the next day it is one more, then one more. This is a great example of linear growth; the growing of the same amount in each step. If this was in graph form, the line would be straight but gradually increasing upwards by the same amount. If this pattern were in linear function form it would be shown as y=1x + 1. The first day is the Y intercept and the slope is 1 because the amount he is eating increases by 1 each day. The book makes understanding the concept of liner growth extremely easy and simplifies it.

I think that literature is an effective way to teach or learn a mathematical concept because it turns something that is thought of as math into easy, fun reading. Most people learn much better (especially visual learners) when they have a visual to refer to and help them better understand the concept. By applying math into a story, it also helps people see how math is applied and used in real life. Literature helps turn complicated concepts into much simpler, everyday ideas.