Numbers, Numbers, Everywhere

Why study math? Because we use it every day! So many of my middle school students think that math is useless until we explain to them how often it comes up in daily life. I wish that all children had this book read to them frequently; more people might be more engaged in studying numbers!

This text heavy pciture book gives lots of examples of how we use different kinds of math. We use numbers to find our way, express age, and use them to measure objects and time. We play with numbers and use them to describe ourselves and others. There are lots of different ways to use numbers that many young readers might not have considered. If we're hot, sometimes it's good to know the temperature to know just how hot we are!

Each two page spread gives lot of examples of how number are used. I particularly liked the section on telling time. A lot of my students can't tell analog time, so the pictures of clocks and how to read the hands will be very useful. I also liked the description of how to use Roman numerals, and the fact that very little is said about a digital clock, although even that tells crucial information about there the hour and minute is expressed.