What do you do when even your dog won’t eat your math homework?
Eat it yourself, of course! If you’re someone who shudders at the mere mention of fractions, integers, algorithms, formulas and polygons, you’ll be happy to know you can actually eat your way to a better understanding of these concepts and have a lot of fun doing it. 🙂
Author Ann McCallum and illustrator Leeza Hernandez, math chefs extraordinaire and creators of the delightfully delectable, Eat Your Math Homework: Recipes for Hungry Minds (Charlesbridge, 2011), are here today to take the lid off the dreaded “fear of mathematics.”
Their charmingly illustrated, yummy collection of edible math projects, served up with generous sides of kitchen tips, fun facts, and chewy appeteasers makes what is often puzzling palatable and transforms numerical drudgery into drool-worthy deliciousness.
Getting past the anxiety of numerators, denominators, diameters and circumferences is as easy as whipping up a batch of Fraction Chips — cutting fried tortillas into equal pieces to share with your friends. Learn about the very cool Fibonacci sequence by skewering the right number of strawberries, marshmallows, grapes or any other favorite snack onto sticks. Yum!
Understanding constants and variables is duck soup when you make your very own Variable Pizza Pi, and don’t even get me started on the Tessellating Two-Color Brownies. Not sure what tessellations are? Chocolate is the answer, my friend. I love how this book shows kids the beauty of math at work in everyday life. Pass me another brownie, please. 🙂
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Jama's Alphabet Soup 