THE DRAGON'S SCALES
Author: Sarah Albee
Illustrator: John Manders
Number of pages: 48
Publisher: Random House Children's Books (USA) First published in: 1998 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes Is this story part of a mathematics story series? Yes (Step into Reading Math) Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, IND, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
When a hot-tempered dragon seizes the local bridge, the people of Berryville are cut off from their supply of beloved strawberries until they can correctly answer three questions related to weight. The grownups of the town are stumped, but one very smart little girl saves the day with some facts she learned in school. |
“"Which weighs more," asked the teacher, "one apple or two peas?" The dragon snorted. "Everyone knows that two things weigh more than one thing," he said. "So two peas weigh more than one apple."”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
In Sarah Albee’s ‘The Dragon’s Scales’ (1998), Berries-loving people of the Berry Town are walking to collect the berries they have grown in nearby fields when a mean dragon blocking their access to the fields. A little girl named Holly challenges the dragon to have a contest whereby if she wins, the dragon would leave them alone. The dragon accepts the challenge adding that if he wins, everyone would have to work in the berry fields for him. A school teacher volunteers to be the judge, and proposes that the contest would involve answering three questions about weight: whoever gets two out of the three questions right wins. The story is clever in weaving children’s common misconceptions about weight into the story with questions, such as “Which weighs more: one apple or two peas?” and “Which weighs more: a little bag of gold or a big bag of cotton?”. The story is perfect for teachers and parents to help their children investigate whether having more and bigger objects always equate to them being heavier. Through this line of questioning, children will also be encouraged to provide their mathematical reasoning. We can see teachers and parents picking their own objects in the classroom or at home for children to predict which of the items would be heavier or lighter and why. We can also see children choose their own items and play this comparison game with their peers or siblings. In the story, the judge uses a weighing scale to check the answer. Again, we can see the story encourages children to learn to use the scale to check their answers too. As a bonus, we also have a leading female character – a sad rarity when it comes to mathematical story picture books. All in all, we love the story and highly recommend ‘The Dragon’s Scales’ to introduce the concept of weight comparison to children, aged 6+ years old.
Recommended age range:
6+ 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.
In Sarah Albee’s ‘The Dragon’s Scales’ (1998), Berries-loving people of the Berry Town are walking to collect the berries they have grown in nearby fields when a mean dragon blocking their access to the fields. A little girl named Holly challenges the dragon to have a contest whereby if she wins, the dragon would leave them alone. The dragon accepts the challenge adding that if he wins, everyone would have to work in the berry fields for him. A school teacher volunteers to be the judge, and proposes that the contest would involve answering three questions about weight: whoever gets two out of the three questions right wins. The story is clever in weaving children’s common misconceptions about weight into the story with questions, such as “Which weighs more: one apple or two peas?” and “Which weighs more: a little bag of gold or a big bag of cotton?”. The story is perfect for teachers and parents to help their children investigate whether having more and bigger objects always equate to them being heavier. Through this line of questioning, children will also be encouraged to provide their mathematical reasoning. We can see teachers and parents picking their own objects in the classroom or at home for children to predict which of the items would be heavier or lighter and why. We can also see children choose their own items and play this comparison game with their peers or siblings. In the story, the judge uses a weighing scale to check the answer. Again, we can see the story encourages children to learn to use the scale to check their answers too. As a bonus, we also have a leading female character – a sad rarity when it comes to mathematical story picture books. All in all, we love the story and highly recommend ‘The Dragon’s Scales’ to introduce the concept of weight comparison to children, aged 6+ years old.
Recommended age range:
6+ 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.