Earth Day--Hooray!: Place Value (MathStart 3 Series)

by Stuart J. Murphy, Renee Andriani (Illustrator), Renee W. Andriani (Illustrator)

Overview

Earth Day is on the way, and Ryan, Luke, and Carly have a plan. If they manage to collect and recycle 5,000 aluminum cans, they can make enough money to buy some beautiful flowers for nearby Gilroy Park.

CAN they do it?

Counting the cans gives Ryan, Luke, and Carly — along with readers — a lesson in place value. And facts about recycling throughout the story will help readers understand how important it is to take care of the earth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060001292
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	01/20/2004
Series:	MathStart 3 Series
Edition description:	Level 3, Age 7+
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	120,168
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.00(d)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Stuart J. Murphy is a visual learning specialist. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, he has a strong background in design and art direction. He also has extensive experience in the world of educational publishing. Drawing on all these talents, Stuart J. Murphy brings a unique perspective to the MathStart series. In MathStart books, pictures do more than tell stories; they teach math.

Stuart J. Murphy and his wife, Nancy, live in Boston.

Editorial Reviews

The students from the Maple Street School Save-the-Planet Club were cleaning up Gilroy Park on Earth Day when they realized that if they took the cans to the recycling center they could use the money to purchase flowers for the entrance to the park. They bagged the cans but the park trash collector inadvertently took them to the dump. The students enlisted the entire school and the community and eventually had enough cans to purchase the flowers. This Level 3 book on "place value" is part of the "Math Start" series. By using the idea of bags containing ten cans, a hundred cans, and a thousand cans, the reader can visually see how numbers are formed. Scattered throughout the book are mini facts about recycling, such as, " In 1999, recycling and composting kept about 64,000,000,000 ((64 billion) tons of trash from ending up in landfills or being burned." The cartoon-style illustrations provide a touch of levity to the math topic. 2004, HarperCollins, Ages 7 to 9.
—Sharon Salluzzo

Children's Literature

A level 3 in the much-loved-by-teachers MathStart series, Murphy's latest focus is on place value. The members of the Maple Street School Save-the-Planet Club are working to fix up the park for the Earth Day festivities. After the trash is picked up, though, the park could still use some beautifying. The club decides to recycle aluminum cans to make the money to buy flowers. The text follows their efforts at collecting the cans and bagging them in groups of 1,000, 100, and 10. As they post their totals in the school hallway, readers see the bags and the way the numbers add up to make a grand total. Flyers, posters, and even the teacher's blackboard feature facts about recycling and the beginnings of Earth Day. Excellent activity suggestions follow the text, allowing parents and children to spend time together while learning. A marvelous addition to the series . . . and to any primary teacher's bookshelf. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews