80฀Reproducible฀Cartoons฀With฀Dozens฀and฀Dozens฀of฀Story฀฀ Problems฀That฀Motivate฀Students฀and฀Build฀Essential฀Math฀Skills BY DAN GREENBERG COMIC-STRIP฀MATH COMIC-STRIP฀MATH PROBLEM฀SOLVING PROBLEM฀SOLVING Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving © Dan Greenberg, Scholastic Teaching Resources Previously published as Comic-Strip Math and Comic-Strip Math: Mini-Story Problems Scholastic Inc. grants teachers permission to photocopy the activity sheets from this book for classroom use. No other part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without written permission of the publisher. For permission, write to Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. Editor: Mela Ottaiano Cover design by Jason Robinson. Interior design by Grafica Inc. Cover and interior illustrations by Jared Lee ISBN-13 978-0-545-19571-3 ISBN-10 0-545-19571-3 Copyright © 2010 by Dan Greenberg. All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. Printed in the U.S.A. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 40 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving © Dan Greenberg, Scholastic Teaching Resources Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Skills Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Place Value & Rounding Phoney Baloney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Nice Hat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Addition & Subtraction The Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 You Don’t Say . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Multiplication & Division Who’s Got the Button? . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Pain in the Neck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Rabbit Feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Seven-Kerplunk! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Stairway to the Top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Camouflage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Golf Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Carrot Soup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Mixed Operations Hoop Dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 The Squirm-ulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 A Familiar Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 The Day of the Dentist . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Fractions Midnight in the Barn . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 White Socks, Black Socks . . . . . . . . . . .26 Friendship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 At the Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Hat Hole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Beach Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Baseball Fever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Doctor Knows Best . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 New Boots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Stubbed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Dance Fever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 What’s Hoppin’? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Leftovers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 Decimals Duet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 The Ladder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 The Picnic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 The Great Escape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Wrestle-Mania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Time The Molly Mouse Show . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Got the Time? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 Late to Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Burnt Cake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 Taxi, Taxi! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 Night School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 Keeping Cool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 TABLE OF CONTENTS Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving © Dan Greenberg, Scholastic Teaching Resources Money Funny Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 The Wise Old Philosopher . . . . . . . . . . .51 Makin’ Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Doggy Diner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Take It to the Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Live at the Ha-Ha Comedy Club . . . . . .55 Mousetrap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Go Skating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Masterpiece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 Food to Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 The Big Deal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 New Jeans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Measurement Special Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Stop Sign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Trash Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 Highway Robbery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 The Texan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Round Trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Graphs What’s Hoppin’ Again? . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 Doctor Knows Best Again . . . . . . . . . . .69 Magic Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Weatherman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 New Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 Geometry A Bear in Full . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 Fun Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 Money Back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 The Hammer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Pie and Pi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 Patterns Lucky Seven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 Roof Roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 Rate, Ratio, Probability & Statistics Snoozer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 Pulsations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 Hums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 Nontoxic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 Speed Trap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 Family Reunion Picnic . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 Talented Tongue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86 Math Whiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87 Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88 Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving © Dan Greenberg, Scholastic Teaching Resources 5 About฀this฀book The purpose of this book should be clear from its title: to make math fun! The comic strips on these pages are funny. But they also have a serious job—to give students context. Math, after all, is ultimately about solving problems in a particular situation. The more interesting the situation, the more motivated most students are to pursue mathematical goals. This book provides contexts—80 of them—that students can really sink their teeth into. Using funny characters and a whimsical point of view, the comics and companion problems on these pages explore a variety of critical mathematical topics that are specified by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Curriculum Standards. Topics focus on basic number operations—addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division— and cover more complex elements, such as fractions, decimals, estimation, mental math, measurement, geometry, and more. using฀this฀book Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving can supplement your core mathematical program in many ways: as part of an interdisciplinary program that integrates reading and math; as an in-class reward for work well done; to introduce new problem-solving skills to students who are ahead of the class; or to review topics for students who need extra help. Each activity page encourages students to apply their visual, verbal, spatial, and reasoning skills to interpret situations and solve mathematical problems. The book is divided into 13 sections: Place Value & Rounding; Addition & Subtraction; Multiplication & Division; Mixed Operations; Fractions; Decimals; Time; Money; Measurement; Graphs; Geometry; Patterns; and Rate, Ratio, Probability & Statistics. These reflect the main skills students will focus on in a given section. The Skills Chart (pages 6 and 7) gives an in-depth analysis of the additional skills students will use to complete each page. The Super Challenges function as a way to extend learning—in some cases encouraging students to draw pictures or diagrams, make models, collect data, and create their own problems. All invite students to apply what they’ve learned in a new, unique, or more complex way. Complete answers are on pages 88–96. In the classroom, the cartoons can be employed in a variety of ways including: •฀฀Whole-class฀participation:฀Students฀work฀ together to solve problems. •฀฀Small-group฀participation:฀Teams฀of฀ students to find solutions on their own. •฀฀Individually:฀Student฀can฀solve฀the฀problems฀฀ either as work in class, homework, or as part of a self-paced study. FinAlly฀.฀.฀. The purpose of this book is to help students see math as a fun and interesting part of their real world, while using basic problem solving, critical thinking, and reasoning skills. But don’t stop there. Encourage students to look for other ways to incorporate math and mathematical thinking into their own lives. Show students that the more math they learn, the more fun it becomes! INTRODUCTION Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving © Dan Greenberg, Scholastic Teaching Resources 6 SkILLS CHART MAIN FOCUS Page ADDITIONAL SKILLS Place฀Value฀&฀Rounding Phoney Baloney 8 Large Numbers Nice Hat 9 Time Addition฀&฀subtraction The Tree 10 Whole Numbers, Multi-Step Problems, Measurement You Don’t Say 11 Whole Numbers, Time, Money, Multi-Step Problems Multiplication฀&฀Division Who’s Got the Button? 12 Whole Numbers Pain in the Neck 13 Whole Numbers, Time, Multi-Step Problems Rabbit Feet 14 Whole Numbers, Multi-Step Problems Seven-Kerplunk! 15 Whole Numbers Stairway to the Top 16 Whole Numbers, Multi-Step Problems, Ordinal Numbers Camouflage 17 Whole Numbers, Multi-Step Problems Golf Pro 18 Money, Decimals, Multi-Step Problems Carrot Soup 19 Whole Numbers, Patterns Mixed฀operations Hoop Dreams 20 Whole Numbers, Multi-Step Problems The Squirm-ulator 21 Whole Numbers, Multi-Step Problems A Familiar Face 22 Whole Numbers The Day of the Dentist 23 Whole Numbers Politics 24 Whole Numbers Fractions Midnight in the Barn 25 Addition, Multiplication, Simplest Form White Socks, Black Socks 26 Subtraction, Simplest Form Friendship 27 Measurement, Simplest Form At the Movies 28 Mixed Numbers, Addition, Subtraction, Time MAIN FOCUS Page ADDITIONAL SKILLS Hat Hole 29 Mixed Numbers, Subtraction, Division, Measurement Beach Day 30 Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Rate Baseball Fever 31 Simplest Form Doctor Knows Best 32 Simplest Form, Addition, Subtraction New Boots 33 Simplest Form, Addition, Subtraction, Mixed Numbers, Measurement Stubbed 34 Simplest Form, Addition, Subtraction, Mixed Numbers, Measurement Dance Fever 35 Multiplication What’s Hoppin’? 36 Subtraction, Comparing Fractions, Ordinal Numbers Leftovers 37 Simplest Form, Addition Decimals Duet 38 Addition, Subtraction, Multi-Step Problems, Measurement The Ladder 39 Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, The Picnic 40 Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Measurement The Great Escape 41 Addition, Multiplication, Division, Time Wrestle-Mania 42 Subtraction, Measurement, Division, Estimation time The Molly Mouse Show 43 Addition Got the Time? 44 Addition, Subtraction Late to Work 45 Addition, Subtraction Burnt Cake 46 Addition, Mixed Numbers Taxi, Taxi! 47 Addition, Mental Math Night School 48 Estimation, Rate, Money, Multiplication, Division Keeping Cool 49 Whole Numbers, Ordinal Numbers, Mental Math Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving © Dan Greenberg, Scholastic Teaching Resources 7 SkILLS CHART MAIN FOCUS Page ADDITIONAL SKILLS Money฀ Funny Money 50 Mental Math, Patterns, Multiplication, Division The Wise Old Philosopher 51 Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division Makin’ Change 52 Mental Math Doggy Diner 53 Addition, Subtraction, Decimals, Mental Math Take It to the Bank 54 Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division Live at the Ha-Ha Comedy Club 55 Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication Mousetrap 56 Multiplication, Division Go Skating 57 Addition, Multiplication, Division Masterpiece 58 Estimation, Division Food to Go 59 Estimation, Addition, Subtraction The Big Deal 60 Estimation, Rounding, Addition New Jeans 61 Addition, Multiplication, Fractions, Patterns Measurement Special Delivery 62 Unit Conversion, Multiplication, Division Stop Sign 63 Unit Conversion, Multiplication, Division Trash Talk 64 Unit Conversion, Multiplication, Division Highway Robbery 65 Whole Numbers, Reading a Map The Texan 66 Addition, Subtraction, Reading a Map Round Trip 67 Addition, Subtraction, Reading a Map graphs What’s Hoppin’ Again? 68 Plotting, Working With Direction Doctor Knows Best Again 69 Multiplication, Division, Statistics MAIN FOCUS Page ADDITIONAL SKILLS Magic Show 70 Subtraction, Measurement, Patterns, Estimation Weatherman 71 Decimals, Measurement, Addition, Subtraction, Average, Time New Job 72 Time, Addition, Subtraction geometry A Bear in Full 73 Perimeter, Measurement, Mixed Numbers, Addition, Subtraction Fun Box 74 Perimeter, Measurement, Decimals, Addition, Subtraction Money Back 75 Square Units, Measurement, Area, Perimeter, Addition, Multiplication The Hammer 76 Measurement, Addition Pie and Pi 77 Radius, Diameter, Area, Circumference, Using a Formula, Decimals, Multiplication, Measurement Patterns Lucky Seven 78 Whole Numbers, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication Roof Roof 79 Geometry Rate,฀Ratio,฀Probability฀&฀statistics Snoozer 80 Rate, Multiplication, Division, Subtraction, Decimals Pulsations 81 Rate, Multiplication, Large Numbers Hums 82 Rate, Multiplication, Division, Large Numbers Nontoxic 83 Rate, Multiplication, Division, Average Speed Trap 84 Rate, Average, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication Family Reunion Picnic 85 Ratio, Percent, Simplest Form, Multi-Step Problems Talented Tongue 86 Probability, Patterns Math Whiz 87 Statistics, Whole Numbers, Subtraction, Range, Median, Mean, Mode Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving © Dan Greenberg, Scholastic Teaching Resources 8 S K I L L Place Value ฀2.฀In the number 6,789, which place does the digit 8 occupy? ฀3.฀In the number 6,789, which digit is in the ones’ place? ฀4.฀Write the number 476,789 out as a word. ฀5.฀In the number 476,789, which digit is in the hundred thousands’ place? ฀6.฀In the number 476,789, what places does the digit 7 occupy? PhonEy฀bAlonEy฀starring฀steve฀hummingbird฀and฀Ant฀betty Because it’s not ringing. So why wait until the last second? Why don’t you answer the telephone? Name: _____________________________________________________ Figure it Out! 1.฀Write the number 6,789 out as a word: SUpER CHALLENGE: Round the number 12,476,789 to the nearest thousand. Now round the number 12,476,789 to the nearest million. Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving © Dan Greenberg, Scholastic Teaching Resources 9 S K I L L niCE฀hAt฀starring฀Woovis฀the฀Dog฀and฀Rudy฀Rabbit Name: _____________________________________________________ 2.฀ Suppose Rudy calls after 54 years. To the nearest ten, how many years is this? 3.฀ Suppose Rudy waits 133 years. To the nearest ten, how many years is this? To the nearest hundred? 4.฀ Suppose Rudy waits 452 years. To the nearest hundred, how many years is this? To the nearest ten? 5.฀ Suppose Rudy calls after 687 years. To the nearest hundred, how many years is this? To the nearest thousand? Rounding I really like your hat! Thanks! Do you want it? You love that hat. You wouldn’t give me that hat in a thousand years. Maybe. Maybe not. You mean you WOULD give it to me? Call me in a thousand years and we’ll find out! 1.฀Rudy Rabbit decides he couldn’t wait 1,000 years to call. Instead, he would wait only 17 years. To the nearest ten, how many years does Rudy wait? SUpER CHALLENGE: Rounded to the nearest hundred, a number equals 1,000. What is the smallest value that this number can have? Figure it Out! Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving © Dan Greenberg, Scholastic Teaching Resources 10 S K I L L No. Chop down the tree. Get it? Uh-huh. I think you’re going to get it, too. Maybe you should try a ladder next time! Yow! What’s the easiest way to pick an apple from the top of this tree? I don’t know. Use a ladder? 1.฀The apple that hit Rowena Pig fell from a branch that is 30 feet above the ground. How far is the branch from the top of the 100-foot tree? ฀ thE฀tREE฀starring฀Rowena฀Pig฀and฀itchy฀squirrel Name: _____________________________________________________ Addition & Subtraction 2.฀ Rowena’s ladder reaches up to 50 feet. How many feet shorter is the ladder than the 100-foot tree? 3.฀ Starting on the ground, Itchy Squirrel climbs 20 feet up the tree. Then she stops to rest. She climbs 37 feet more and stops to rest again. How many feet did Itchy climb up the tree? 4.฀ Rowena climbs 47 feet up the tree. Then an apple falls on her. The apple fell from a branch that is 92 feet up the tree. How many feet did the apple drop before hitting Rowena? 5.฀ Itchy climbs 57 feet up the 100-foot tree. Then she climbs down 28 feet. How many feet is she from the top of the tree? SUpER CHALLENGE: Itchy is 20 feet from the top of the 100-foot tree. She jumps straight across to a second tree. Now she’s 30 feet from the top of the second tree. How tall is the second tree? Figure it Out! Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving © Dan Greenberg, Scholastic Teaching Resources 11 S K I L L You want to hear a joke about a rope? How about an egg joke? Why don’t you just beat it. Skip it. I’m Woovis. I’m Moovis. 1.฀In their comedy act, Moovis and Woovis told 7 utterly funny jokes and 4 udderly funny jokes. How many jokes did they tell in all? ฀ you฀Don’t฀sAy฀starring฀Woovis฀the฀Dog฀and฀Moovis฀the฀Cow Name: _____________________________________________________ ฀2.฀฀Woovis told 16 dog biscuit jokes. The audience laughed at all but 7 of them. How many dog biscuit jokes did the audience laugh at? ฀3.฀฀Woovis and Moovis were on stage for a total of 45 minutes. Before the intermission, they were on stage for 21 minutes. How long were they on stage after the intermission? ฀4.฀฀The Woovis and Moovis Show played for 5 nights in New York. The show played for twice as many nights in Chicago than it played in New York. How many nights did the show play in all? ฀5.฀฀In New York, Woovis and Moovis were paid a combined total of $10 for each show. But Woovis earned $2 more for each show than Moovis earned. How much did each animal earn for each show? Addition & Subtraction The Moovis and Woovis Show SUpER CHALLENGE: The Woovis and Moovis Show needs jokes. Can you help them out? Find or make up a good joke that has a math problem in it. Then write your joke and display it in class. Add pictures if you wish! Figure it Out! Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving © Dan Greenberg, Scholastic Teaching Resources 12 S K I L L Multiplication & Division Who’s฀got฀thE฀button?฀starring฀Molly฀Mouse฀and฀Ant฀betty Good gracious! You’d think that person would learn to keep track of his buttons after a while. They say that every 3 seconds, somebody somewhere loses a button. Name: _____________________________________________________ 1.฀If a button is lost every 3 seconds, how many buttons are lost in 60 seconds? ฀ ฀ 2.฀ Ant Betty finds some buttons. She gives 7 buttons to each of her 8 nieces. How many buttons did she find? 3.฀ Molly Mouse organizes 6 groups of mice to look for lost buttons. Each group has 5 mice. How many mice are there in all? 4.฀ One group of mice finds many buttons and they put them into 9 bags. Each bag contains 14 buttons. How many buttons did the mice find? 5.฀ A second group of mice collects 20 bags containing a total of 160 buttons. Each bag contains the same number of buttons. How many buttons are in each bag? SUpER CHALLENGE: Suppose 20 mice want to form teams with an equal number of mice on each team. How many different-size teams can they form? Figure it Out! Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving © Dan Greenberg, Scholastic Teaching Resources 13 S K I L L Multiplication & Division Name: _____________________________________________________ PAin฀in฀thE฀nECk฀starring฀Dr.฀Woovis฀and฀Rowena฀Pig But this one’s real, Doc. Do you have a pill that will get rid of a pain in the neck? I’m afraid not. If I did, you wouldn’t be here right now. Is he calling me a pain in the neck? Doc, you don’t think I’m a bother, do you? Well, you do come in here every day with a new complaint. 1.฀฀Dr. Woovis wants Rowena Pig to take 2 red pills a day for 10 days. How many red pills will Rowena take in all? 2.฀ Red pills come in two different-size bottles. The large bottle contains 100 pills. The small bottle contains 40 pills. Which has more pills—1 large bottle or 3 small bottles? 3.฀ Harry Horse needs to take 6 blue pills a day. If a bottle of blue pills has 84 pills, how many days will it last? 4.฀ How many days will a bottle of 294 blue pills last if a patient takes 6 blue pills per day? 5.฀ Rudy Rabbit needs to take 9 green pills a day for 2 weeks. How many green pills will he take in all? SUpER CHALLENGE: Dr. Woovis wants Squirmy Worm to take 8 purple pills a day for 3 weeks, then 6 purple pills a day for the following 2 weeks. How many purple pills will Squirmy take in all? Figure it Out! Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving © Dan Greenberg, Scholastic Teaching Resources 14 S K I L L Multiplication & Division RAbbit฀FEEt฀starring฀Woovis฀the฀Dog฀and฀Rudy฀Rabbit I don’t know, Rudy. When? When there are 5 rabbits. Get it? Hey Woovis, when do rabbits have 20 feet? Name: _____________________________________________________ ฀2.฀฀A group of rabbits has a total of 24 feet. How many rabbits are in the group? ฀3.฀฀A starfish has 5 legs. Four starfish were doing underwater cartwheels. How many legs were doing cartwheels? ฀4.฀฀A beetle has 6 legs. A total of 22 beetles bought basketball sneakers. How many sneakers did they buy? ฀5.฀฀A group of eight-legged spiders with a total of 48 legs is walking with a group of rabbits that have a total of 12 legs. How many animals are walking? ฀6.฀฀Two spiders and 1 rabbit leave the walking group. Five people join the group. How many legs are walking in all? 1.฀A rabbit has 4 feet. How many feet do 4 rabbits have? ฀ ฀ SUpER CHALLENGE: Draw a cartoon that shows how you solved one of the problems on this page. Figure it Out! Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving © Dan Greenberg, Scholastic Teaching Resources