CUT DOWN TO SIZE AT HIGH NOON
Author: Scott Sundby
Illustrator: Wayne Geehan
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Number of pages: 31
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing (USA) First published in: 2000 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes Is this story part of a mathematics story series? Yes (Charlesbridge's Math Adventure) Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, IND, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
The town of Cowlick turns out for a scale-drawing showdown when a tough-talkin' stranger challenges the local hero. |
“Buzzsaw spent the rest of the day showing Louie how to use scale drawings to make small things bigger. First, Buzzsaw measured every part of a life-sized object. Then, he multiplied the size of each part equally, untill he had created an exact model of the original object on a larger scale.”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
In Scott Sundby’s ‘Cut Down to Size at High Noon’ (2000), Louie Cutorze is the go-to barber in the wild-west town of Cowlick – that is until Buzzsaw Bart shows up. When it comes to haircuts, they have different specialties: haircuts by Louie incorporate the shapes of scaled-down things like a cow or a hog, while haircuts by Buzzsaw incorporate the shapes of scaled-up objects like a grasshopper. One day, the two rival barbers decide to settle their score once for all at high noon to see who will stay and who will leave Cowlick. Soon, they realise that they can learn from each other’s specialty and have a successful barber business together. The story provides a humorous yet purposeful context for children to see how proportions can be used to help scale up or scale down objects. Mathematically speaking, the story is very versatile in that the current proportions found in the story (e.g. 1/16 inch = 1 square) can be used as they are with older children (aged 11+ years old) or it can be simplified (e.g. 1mm = 1 square) so that it can be used with younger children (aged 9+ years old). We can see a range of mathematical tasks that children can engage with after reading or listening to the story, for example, they can be asked to draw an image of something on a grid paper and to then either scale it up or down by a certain proportion. All in all, we highly recommend ‘Cut Down to Size at High Noon’ to introduce the concept of proportion to children, aged 9+ years old.
Recommended age range:
9+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Ratio & Proportion
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.
In Scott Sundby’s ‘Cut Down to Size at High Noon’ (2000), Louie Cutorze is the go-to barber in the wild-west town of Cowlick – that is until Buzzsaw Bart shows up. When it comes to haircuts, they have different specialties: haircuts by Louie incorporate the shapes of scaled-down things like a cow or a hog, while haircuts by Buzzsaw incorporate the shapes of scaled-up objects like a grasshopper. One day, the two rival barbers decide to settle their score once for all at high noon to see who will stay and who will leave Cowlick. Soon, they realise that they can learn from each other’s specialty and have a successful barber business together. The story provides a humorous yet purposeful context for children to see how proportions can be used to help scale up or scale down objects. Mathematically speaking, the story is very versatile in that the current proportions found in the story (e.g. 1/16 inch = 1 square) can be used as they are with older children (aged 11+ years old) or it can be simplified (e.g. 1mm = 1 square) so that it can be used with younger children (aged 9+ years old). We can see a range of mathematical tasks that children can engage with after reading or listening to the story, for example, they can be asked to draw an image of something on a grid paper and to then either scale it up or down by a certain proportion. All in all, we highly recommend ‘Cut Down to Size at High Noon’ to introduce the concept of proportion to children, aged 9+ years old.
Recommended age range:
9+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Ratio & Proportion
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.
