Math Concept Reader MCR g4 the thirst quencher

Math Concept Reader

Howard

The Thirst Quencher

Expedition: Antarctica

by Aenea Mickelsen

Howard

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Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 13: 978-0-15-360190-3

ISBN 10: 0-15-360190-6

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 179 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07

by Sarah Mastrianni

Photographs by Gregg Anderson

The Thirst Quencher

Howard the Vending Machine Man

CH A PT E R

1 :

Howard works for All Your Vending Needs (AYVN) Vending

Company The company has been in business for more than 15

years and provides bottled water and juice to their customers

Their customers include hundreds of companies and schools

The company prides itself on quality, price, and service

Howard is in charge of a group of drivers who fill the

vending machines for customers Howard believes that meeting

the needs of his customers is very important If his drivers

keep their customers happy, that means AYVN will get more

business Howard not only manages a group of drivers, but he

drives for the company, too! Filling the vending machines lets

Howard visit and speak with his customers on a regular basis

2

the Vending

Machine Man

Each day, the drivers have stops to make on a set route to service and fill the vending machines Howard plans the stops for all the drivers He must be sure that the other drivers know where they are going before he leaves for his own route He also wants to be sure they know what they are delivering He reviews customer orders for refills

Today there are 29 stops on the schedule The drivers will stock vending machines with more drinks and collect payments from each customer There are seven drivers today, counting Howard Howard grabs a pen and a sheet of paper and gets ready to plan the delivery route for each driver

3

Howard and the other drivers will stock vending machines with drinks.

Howard wants to make sure each of his drivers has an

equal amount of work, so he divides the 29 stops by the seven

drivers He figures out that each driver, including himself, must

make four stops Each stop typically includes several vending

machines that need to be refilled with drinks Howard thinks

There are 29 stops to divide among seven drivers, but that

leaves one extra stop, which Howard decides to take himself

29 ÷ 7 = 4 r1; 4 routes for each driver, with one extra stop

for Howard

Howard hands the drivers a list for each machine on their

stops The drivers review their lists and load their trucks

4

Howard hands the driver a list for his route

JOHNSTON

HIGH SCHOOL

Howard reviews orders for the customers on his stops He will fill vending machines with juice and water It’s important

that he make sure to bring enough drinks to fill each order

Today, the vending machines he will fill are located at five local schools Howard plans his driving route carefully He

does not want to lose time driving around in his truck looking

for the schools, so he maps out his stops This helps save gas,

too Now Howard is ready to load his truck and will soon be on

his way

Howard checks in with his drivers one more time When he

is sure that everyone is prepared for their routes, he sets off for

Clever Elementary School

5

CLEVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

FREDERICK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

HOPE MIDDLE SCHOOL

CAPETOWN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

JOHNSTON

HIGH SCHOOL

Stop 1

Stop 2 Stop 3

Stop 4

Stop 5

Juice for Clever

Students

CH A PT E R

2 :

Clever Elementary School just purchased a new juice

machine for the cafeteria A driver from Howard’s company

delivered the vending machine yesterday and now it needs to be

filled with drinks

Howard has worked for AYVN for more than ten years so he

knows that different models of vending machines hold different

numbers of drinks The number of drinks depends on the layers

in the machine He looks at the list to find out which model the

driver delivered to the school yesterday

The machine that Clever Elementary School purchased holds

480 bottles There are 8 layers in the machine and each layer

holds 60 bottles

480 ÷ 8 = 60; 60 bottles for each layer in the machine

6

Howard wants to bring enough juice from his truck into the school so that he will only have to make one trip He knows

he needs 480 bottles of juice to fill the machine The bottles of

juice are packaged in cases and each case contains 24 bottles

of juice Howard needs to figure out how many cases of 24

bottles equals 480 bottles That way, Howard will bring just the

right number of cases into the school to fill the machine

Howard uses mental math to figure out that 20 cases of 24 bottles are 480 bottles in all

20 x 24 = 480; 480 bottles in 20 cases

He loads his dolly with 20 cases of juice

7

Howard brings cases of drinks to fill the machine.

Once Howard finishes filling the machine, he heads to

the main office and gives the office worker the bill The office

worker thanks Howard for coming to the school He says that the

students are excited about the juice machine

The timing of Howard’s delivery could not be better because

many of the students are participating in a two-mile walk after

school On a warm day like today, the students will surely head

to the juice machine after the walk! Howard says he is glad the

timing of the delivery is so good He will call in a few days and

promises to be back when the machine needs more juice

8

The office worker thanks Howard for filling the vending machine.

Two students stop Howard before he leaves the building

They tell Howard that they saw him in the cafeteria earlier

and thank him for filling up the new juice machine They tell

Howard that they are looking forward to having cold drinks

each day They appreciate the hard work Howard does for the

students

The students tell Howard they have a nickname for him

They call him the “Thirst Quencher!” Howard laughs at the

name He never thought of himself as the man who satisfied

students’ thirst, but now he does Howard smiles as he waves

goodbye He likes to know that his job makes people happy

He cannot wait to tell his crew about his new name

9

Howard, the Thirst Quencher, continues his deliveries.

Keeping Customers Happy

CH A PT E R

3 :

Frederick Elementary School is just a few minutes away from

Clever Elementary When he arrives at the school, Howard

looks at his notes The three vending machines at Frederick

Elementary School hold a total of 1,296 bottles of water and

Howard knows they each hold the same number of bottles

He will take the maximum number of bottles that he might

need in case all three machines are empty This time, he

will have to make three trips On his first trip, he will fill the

vending machine in the gymnasium lobby On his second trip,

he will fill the vending machine in the teachers’ workroom On

Howard’s third trip, he will fill the machine in the cafeteria

10

THE HANDY



GYMNASIUM

(OWARD THE

DOLLY

&&

1,296 bottles ÷ 3 machines = 432 bottles of water

There are 432 bottles per machine

GYMNASIUM

432 CAFETERIA432

TEACHERS’

WORKROOM 432

One of them asks him if there are any cold bottles of water left

in the machine

Howard looks at the students They are dressed in sports

jerseys He guesses from their uniforms that they have been

playing volleyball in the gymnasium They look as if they have

been playing hard and they sound like they are

out of breath Howard guesses they are pretty

thirsty! He asks them how many students are in

the gymnasium They tell Howard that there

are 12 volleyball players on the team and they

are all practicing for their upcoming game

12

A volleyball player takes a break to get water from the vending machine.

Howard looks at the machine and sees 13 bottles of water remaining from the last time it was filled He takes the water

out for the thirsty students Howard likes to keep his customers

happy He collects the money for 12 bottles, but pays for the

extra bottle of water himself He makes a note of the sale and

will be sure the school is given the money The students figure

out they must each carry four bottles back to the gym

12 ÷ 3 = 4; 4 bottles for each student to carry back to the gym

They each pick up their four bottles They notice there is one bottle of water left on the floor

13

There are 13 water bottles left in the machine before Howard fills it.

bought the extra bottle of water because he thinks there is a

coach who might be thirsty, too The girls nod their heads in

agreement They do the division again

13 ÷ 3 = 4 r1; 4 bottles for each student to carry back to the gym and 1 extra bottle for the coach

Now they understand why there is

an extra bottle of water One student reaches down for it She has to be careful

so she doesn’t drop her bottles of water

The girls thank Howard and then head back to the gym with the water

14

This player carries four water bottles plus one more for the coach.

As the students turn, they see their coach, who smiles and waves at Howard The teammates agree that it was nice of

Howard to buy the extra bottle for the coach

Howard smiles on his way back to the truck He enjoys his job It requires so many different skills He almost always uses

math in his head or on his notepad He gets to interact with all

sorts of people, and he’s never thirsty! He especially likes to

meet the students at the schools he services

Howard has three more stops to make after Frederick Elementary School He is excited to see what is next for the

“Thirst Quencher.” Howard laughs aloud as he loads his dolly

again

15

Howard uses math at work every day

dolly a cart with small wheels for moving loads

that are too heavy to be carried by hand

layer a single thickness that makes one part of

a larger collection

quench to satisfy; when you’re hot, a cold

drink will quench your thirst

refill a replacement for something that has

been used up

route a specific number of stops that a worker

regularly visits while doing the job

MACHINES







thirsty! He asks them how many students are in

the gymnasium They tell Howard that there

are 12 volleyball players on the team and they

are all practicing for their... carry back to the gym

They each pick up their four bottles They notice there is one bottle of water left on the floor

13

There are 13 water bottles left in the machine... uniforms that they have been

playing volleyball in the gymnasium They look as if they have

been playing hard and they sound like they are

out of breath Howard guesses they are