CAO CHONG WEIGHS AN ELEPHANT
Author: Songju Ma Daemicke
Illustrator: Christina Wald
|
Number of pages: 26
Publisher: Arbordale Publishing First published in: 2017 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? No Is this story part of a mathematics story series? No Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
How much does an elephant weigh? How do you know? How would you know if you didn't have a modern scale? Six-year-old Cao Chong, the most famous child prodigy in Chinese history, faced just this problem! Chong watches as the prime minister's most trusted and learned advisors debate different methods. The principal of buoyancy and a little bit of creative thinking help this boy come up with a solution. This fictional story includes a 4-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 30-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. |
“One advisor seemed puzzled. "The elephant was put on the boat and now is taken off the boat. Little boy, what game are you playing there?" "You will see." Chong smiled confidently. Chong then ordered that rocks be loaded into the boat. The boat started to sink back lower into the water again. [...] When the long, curved line on the boat again met the water's surface, Chong hopped back on the boat . He waved his hands. "Stop! Now bring a scale and weigh all the rocks on this boat!"”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Songju Ma Daemicke’s ‘Cao Chong Weighs and Elephant’ (2017) retells an ancient Chinese story of a 6-year-old child prodigy, named Cao Chong, who is apparently able to come up with a way to accurately measure the weight of an elephant using the principal of buoyancy. As the elephant is simply too big to be placed onto a scale, Cao Chong suggests placing the elephant onto a floating boat and recording the new water level on the side of the boat. Once the elephant has been led off the boat, rocks of different shapes and sizes are placed onto the boat to reach the same water level previously marked on the side of the boat. One by one, these rocks are then weighed using the scale to work out how heavy the elephant is. Teachers and parents could read up to the page before Cao Chong’s idea is revealed to give a great context and motivation for students to practise their problem solving skills involving weighing and mass. The story can also, of course, be used to provide a scientific link through the concept of buoyancy. One small issue for readers not familiar with the Chinese context: given the ancient context of the story, the story adopts the traditional Chinese measurement unit of mass - ‘jin’ (斤) (1 jin = around 600 gram). As the story understandably does not explain how much 1 jin is in gram, student readers will need to be explained to by their teacher and parents. All in all, ‘Cao Chong Weighs and Elephant’ has an engaging storyline and is an effective story to introduce the concept of mass measurement to children aged 7+ years old.
Recommended age range:
7+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Mass, Volume & Capacity; Measurement Comparison
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.
Songju Ma Daemicke’s ‘Cao Chong Weighs and Elephant’ (2017) retells an ancient Chinese story of a 6-year-old child prodigy, named Cao Chong, who is apparently able to come up with a way to accurately measure the weight of an elephant using the principal of buoyancy. As the elephant is simply too big to be placed onto a scale, Cao Chong suggests placing the elephant onto a floating boat and recording the new water level on the side of the boat. Once the elephant has been led off the boat, rocks of different shapes and sizes are placed onto the boat to reach the same water level previously marked on the side of the boat. One by one, these rocks are then weighed using the scale to work out how heavy the elephant is. Teachers and parents could read up to the page before Cao Chong’s idea is revealed to give a great context and motivation for students to practise their problem solving skills involving weighing and mass. The story can also, of course, be used to provide a scientific link through the concept of buoyancy. One small issue for readers not familiar with the Chinese context: given the ancient context of the story, the story adopts the traditional Chinese measurement unit of mass - ‘jin’ (斤) (1 jin = around 600 gram). As the story understandably does not explain how much 1 jin is in gram, student readers will need to be explained to by their teacher and parents. All in all, ‘Cao Chong Weighs and Elephant’ has an engaging storyline and is an effective story to introduce the concept of mass measurement to children aged 7+ years old.
Recommended age range:
7+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Mass, Volume & Capacity; Measurement Comparison
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.
