-How Much Is a Million?

By David M. Schwartz pictures by Steven Kellogg

-Recommended for grades 2-5

-NCTM Content Standards: Number & Operations, Measurement

-Summary:

This book helps readers conceptualize the magnitude of large numbers. The main character, Marvelosissimo the Mathematical Magician, leads the reader through several examples of what a large quantity, for example one million, of something might look like. To illustrate how large one million is, Marvelosissimo describes how big a container would have to be to house one million goldfish, or how high one million children stacked on one another’s shoulders would stretch to.

-Recommended Uses/ Activities:

This book could be used to introduce a unit on measurement. After reading the book, students could measure each other’s heights and add them together, figuring out how far the students in the classroom if stacked upon one another’s shoulders would stretch to, or how big the city harbor/ lake might be. Furthermore, the students could find the average foot size of the classroom and find how far one million human feet might stretch.

To practice estimation, previous to reading the book, the teacher could ask the children to estimate the magnitudes of certain measurements that will be discussed in the book. After reading the teacher could lead a discussion on how their estimations compared with the book.