Book Descriptions

DINOSAUR DEALS Level 3 Books Homepage

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Skills

  • Featured Skills
  • EQUIVALENT VALUES

NCTM Standards

  • Algebra
  • Data Analysis & Probability
  • Representations
  • What's a Standard?

Where to Buy

For dino-lovers Mike and his little brother Andy, there's nothing as exciting as the Dinosaur Card Trading Fair. Andy's in heaven on his 7th birthday when Mom lets Mike take him for the very first time. Mike really wants a T. Rex card, but to get it he's going to have to trade. He needs three Allosaurus cards to get a T. Rex, but has only one. This is going take some wheeling and dealing. Helping children to comprehend the concept of equivalent values is key to their understanding of equations. Illustrated by Kevin O'Malley.

ActivitiesView Activities Homepage

Read the story with your child or students and use the diagrams to discuss each of the trades that are made. Ask questions such as, " How many Allosaurus does it take to equal 1 Tricerotops?"

Cut out rectangles of different colored construction paper and use them to represent each of the dinosaur cards in the story. Reread the story and have your child or students act out the trading of the cards.

On 16 index cards draw different groups of coins. Each card should have a match that shows the same amount of money in different coins (for example, two quarters would match five dimes). Turn the cards face down. On alternating turns each player exposes 2 cards. If the cards match, the player keeps them and gets another turn. The player with the most cards wins.

Dinosaur Deals PDF Activity Page

ReviewsView Reviews Homepage

FROM KIRKUS REVIEWS

Murphy continues to amuse with math-quite a trick considering the amount of anxiety the subject manages to generate. Here he tackles the concept of comparative value by working it into a story of trading cards. Mike and his brother Andy are dinosaur trading card enthusiasts. It's Andy's birthday and as a special treat he is getting to accompany older brother Mike to a trading fair for the first time. Mike is in hot pursuit of a Tyrannosaurus rex card, but he has to wheel and deal to get the cards the owner of the T. rex wants in trade. As the story progresses, small boxed items on the page allow readers to see the action in terms of equations-two Pterosaur cards equals one Stegosaurus card, four of which equal one Tyrannosaurus card-and also learn a few facts about the dinosaurs. And sweetly, at the end of all the furious trading Mike gives Andy the card for his birthday present. O'Malley's color-shocked artwork is a real plus to Murphy's story, which easily takes the mystifying sting out of comparatives. A guide is included to help kids get the most out of the book, and a few games are suggested enjoyably extend the math lesson.

Used with permission of Kirkus Reviews. Copyright ©2001, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.