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Ada Twist, Scientist

Actual Size.png

Actual Size
by Steve Jenkins


This book shows the actual size of animals and parts of animals. You can compare the size of your foot to the size of an African elephant’s foot! Just how big is that crocodile smile? Will a pygmy shrew fit in your pocket?
 

Activities for Actual Size:

Swallowtail Size (English)

Tamaño de una Mariposa  (Spanish)

Swallowtail Images

Chalk Animals (English)

Actual Size Kid (English)

Actual Size Version 2 (English)

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**Spanish Versions are coming soon!

Resources for Actual Size:

Discovering the Math: Book Guide (English)

How does the size of your eye compare to the eye of a giant squid? Bigger, smaller, about the same size?

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Topics: comparison, measurement, ratios, counting

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Activities To Do Together:

  • ​Count what you see in the pictures: teeth, legs, eyes.

  • Discover how many of your hands fit across the alligator’s mouth.

  • Encourage your child to weigh or measure different objects.

  • Compare yourself to the animals in this book. Are you taller, shorter, wider, narrower, heavier, lighter, etc.?

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Questions for Mathematical Thinking: 

  1. Are you taller or shorter than a gorilla?

  2. If you had a choice, would you like to be the shortest or tallest? Heaviest or lightest? Tell me why.         

  3. What other really big or really small animals are not mentioned in this book?

  4. Why do you think some of the pictures don’t show the whole animal?

  5. What do you think weighs about the same as a Goliath beetle (3.5 ounces)? (Hint: a standard deck of playing cards weighs about the same as a Goliath beetle.)

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Vocabulary for Building Math Concepts:

across, as much as, feet, inches, length, long, ounce, pounds, up to, weigh

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Please check out the Book Guide for Actual Size for more!

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Online External Resources for Actual Size:

  • Coming soon!

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