Zookeeper for a Day

by Wendy Clemson, David Clemson

Firefighters, zookeepers, astronauts, deep-sea divers, paleontologists, and archaeologists- everyone uses math! This series gives young readers a chance to learn about each of these exciting jobs, and use their math skills along the way. Each book offers a variety of problems that teach math concepts and help readers understand the connection between math skills and daily life.

Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Demonstrating the practical application of math in an interesting occupation, Zookeeper for a Day invites early readers to interact with the text by taking out “paper, a pencil, and a ruler, and don’t forget to wear your rubber boots. Let’s go!” A plethora of math problems encompass figuring out how many zookeepers it takes to clean the giraffe area to calculating how many pounds of fruit will be needed to feed an orangutan family. Besides describing actual situations requiring arithmetic knowledge to operate a zoo, this picture book is also filled with color photographs and fact boxes on its fascinating denizens. Part of a series to show how math is practical and necessary in numerous careers, Zookeeper for a Day will hold the attention of younger elementary students. School Library Journal points out that this book includes mathematical concepts as “clockwise and counterclockwise, right angles, telling time, scales, adding, subtracting, counting by 10s, interpreting charts, determining a range of numbers, measurements, counting money, and calculating change (Joslin, 2007) though California schoolteachers will want to know how this book can meet instructional objectives for teaching educational standards of number sense, measurement, geometry and mathematical reasoning (California Department of Education, 1997).

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for my future zookeeper who needs to work on her math!