Synopsis
It's 4 tickets for the Treetop Coaster! Just 2 for the Elephant Twirl! five cousins each have 20 tickets to spend at Safari, and a little algebra will tell them how many rides they can try. But who will dare the death-defying Terrible Tarantula?
Children's Literature
The "MathStart" series has been created by a visual learning specialist with an interest in teaching math. Each of the books tells a story with the purpose of teaching a specific math concept. Safari Park is a Level 3 book, exploring the concept of finding an unknown. This concept is critical to developing algebraic thinking. Grandpa has taken all of his grandchildren to Safari Park. Paul really wants to ride the Terrible Tarantula. Grandpa bought 100 tickets and gave each of his five grandchildren 20 tickets. Paul lost his tickets right away, so all of the other children promised Grandpa they would take Paul on one ride. As each of the kids goes on a ride, there is an illustration of how many tickets have been used up and a question mark for the number of tickets remaining to equal the original 20. As the day goes on, Paul is concerned about whether there will be enough tickets left for his ride on Terrible Tarantula. The tickets are running out, but Paul manages to win 36 tickets and take everyone with him on his favorite ride. Each book in this series has instructions for parents and students at the end, including related activities, in this case giving the kids 20 pieces of paper to use as tickets when they read the story or rereading the story using another number of tickets. 2002, HarperCollins, $15.95, $15.89, and $4.95. Ages 7 to 10. Reviewer: Kristin Harris AGES: 7 8 9 10