Chickens on the Move

Math Matters®

by Pam Pollack, Meg Belviso, Lynn Adams (Illustrator)

Grandpa has a surprise for Tim, Anne, and Gordon - CHICKENS! Now, where should they put the chickens and their new home? Each time they move the fence, the home becomes a different shape, but the perimeter stays the same.

Genres: Mathematics

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Pamela Pollack is a writer/editor/compiler of children's and young adult books.

Reviews

[Kathy Iwanicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love to read this book when I teach area and perimeter. Today we did it as a book talk.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic story that demonstrates how different configurations can be made with a length of fence. In this tale, children learn how by altering the lengths of the sides of a rectangle or square (or even a triangle), the shape and area of the pen also changes. For the four sided structures, the perimeter remains the same no matter how the area changes. Our girls were amazed by this concept.

We love visiting my husband's sister since she has a chicken coop and our girls love chasing the chickens around their enclosure. This book is perfect for bringing back those memories and telling a fun story while also teaching the everyday importance of mathematics. The illustrations are colorful and cartoonish and help explain the math principles well. We really enjoyed reading this book together.

[April Scheivelhud · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great story to share when teaching a math lesson on perimeter. The kids have to keep changing the size of the fence because it is too small for all of those chickens.

[Irina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about some kids who are putting up a fence for a chicken coop. This book can be used when talking about perimeter. The book is not as clear as I thought it would be, but it is OK.