The Number Devil - A Mathematical Adventure
This is a series of number and algebra activities based on the novel The number devil: A mathematical adventure.
About this resource
This series of activities is based on the novel The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure (words by Hans Magnus Enzensberger, translations by Michael Henry Heim, and illustrations by Rotraut Susanne Berner).
Specific learning outcomes:
- Explore several key concepts from the world of mathematics through narrative and through the construction of models.
- Express their observations about patterns and groups of numbers with an accurate vocabulary.
The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure
Achievement objectives
NA4-1: Use a range of multiplicative strategies when operating on whole numbers.
NA4-8: Generalise the properties of multiplication and division with whole numbers.
Description of mathematics
Mathematics is a diverse field of study, and understanding patterns is central to appreciating its mystery and power.
Solving problems and creating models is an interesting thing to do.
Required materials
- Figure It Out levels 3, 3-4, and 4
- access to the internet
- The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger
See Materials that come with this resource to download:
- The Number Devil links activity (.pdf)
Activity
Twelve-year-old Robert hates mathematics and doesn’t see the power or beauty in it. That is, until he spends 12 nights being visited by the Number Devil in his dreams. The subject comes to life through a series of explorations and metaphors, and Robert discovers his passion for the patterns and wants to discover more. This is an illustrated novel with wonderful diagrams and formulae, interesting quirks of vocabulary, and metaphor that has so many key mathematical concepts rolled out in one story that it’s hard to document them all!
The book is a novel organised into 12 chapters, with one chapter representing each night Robert is visited by the Number Devil. A suggestion is to read aloud a chapter on Monday, then explore the key ideas over the week, and then re-read the chapter on Friday. On Friday, have students document their new understandings gained that week. The Number Devil links activity contains a table that presents some of the key ideas in each chapter, a link to one investigative Figure Out Activity per chapter, and a suggestion of one other possible response activity.
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