The Great Divide: A Mathematical Marathon

by Dayle Ann Dodds, Tracy Mitchell (Illustrator)

"In this crafty story of a cross-country race, numerical division accounts for the narrowing of the field. . . . All lessons should be this gratifying." —  Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Bang!" goes the gun. The race is on.

Eighty racers explode from the starting gate, determined to win The Great Divide. They surge ahead, rushing toward — OH NO! — the wide hungry mouth of a grand canyon that claims half the racers. And this is only the beginning. More dangers lie ahead, waiting to divide the group once, twice, three times, and more. Will there be anyone left to cross the finish line?

Genres: Mathematics, Picture Books, Division, 1st Grade, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Dayle Ann Dodds is the author of numerous picture books for children, including THE SHAPE OF THINGS, TEACHER'S PETS, THE GREAT DIVIDE: A MATHEMATICAL MARATHON, and MINNIE'S DINER: A MULTIPLYING MENU. A former elementary school teacher, she lives in Carmel Valley, California.

Reviews

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A marathon race that allows racers to choose directions at various points quickly whittles 80 competitors down by half and half again until there are just 5 left. Who will win?

The illustrations in this make me wonder if the author & illustrator were inspired by watching older comedic race movies such as The Great Race or Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. The tone felt similar to me. The way the story is written allows readers to calculate how many are left after an event that puts some out of the race and then turn the page to check their number. And there’s a twist ending that they may not see coming. Definitely an engaging way to practice division.

[Henry Claxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great idea for a mathematical book, but lacked content. The story begins with 80 marathon participants and consequently gets cut in half - until 5. Then there are 4 participants, and then 1. The story could have utilized more math, finished the pattern, or began with a different number than 80, like 64 or 128 so it could be divided until 1. I did like how the winner was a woman participant.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pre-dates Ten Little books. TC interested in the illustrations - what are the characters (dressed as)? Great jeopardy.

[Helen Kumpel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who this book would be for: 1st-5th
Activity: Dividing - have students use manipulatives to use while you read the book
Reflection:
I really like how this book uses the idea of a race and its participants. I'm sure all students have been in a large group or race so they would be able to relate this book to a prior experience. The first division problem is when 80 cyclist come to a divide in the road where half must go left while the others go left. The students have to figure out what half of 80 is and keep dividing the remainder into smaller equal parts.

[Bekkah Riecke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very cute story about division. I really enjoyed the author's word choice and all of the action throughout the book. I would use this story as a way to introduce the concept of division or even as a way to review division word problems with older kids. The whole book is essentially one long word problem, but I think kids would enjoy it. They could even break into groups and work out the math to see if the author is correct in the ending. There are not a lot of words on each page and there is a good rhythm to the text so I think ELLs would do well with this book too.

[Sue Pak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book to use when teaching halves and division. Starts from the number 80 then divides into halves til their is one left.

I think the idea of this book was pretty cute. I didn't really like the illustrations as much though for some reason. I think the children would get a good sense of halves/decomposing numbers with this book though, because they use numbers that are easily divided into twos.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to introduce a division lesson to a class. Integrated lessons are great ideas for the classroom, and the children may get engaged in a subject they would typically not enjoy. This book also mentions left, right, north, south, east, and west. Many lessons can be tied into this reading as well as literacy. Good read aloud for 8 or 9 year old.

[Lauren Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking for a book about dividing into halves? This is the book for you. The Great Divide starts out with 80 racers and ends with one prevailing winner. It can easily be used in a lesson on dividing and making equal groups or even fractions. The students can go into creating their own stories in which they pick their own fractions and divide into equal groups.
Recommended grade levels: 1-3.

[Angela]

This book shows how diving up groups of people will eventually lead to just one person left. After reading the book, I would have the students do and experiment with dividing people. I would take all the students to one side of the room and then ask them to follow me. I would begin diving the students by half at random points in time until eventually there is only one person following me.

[Karelle Royal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for introducing division to 1st through 3rd grade students.
Story about a race and the mishaps that cause the number of contestants to continually be reduced.
Good illustrations & good to use with math manipulatives.
Teaches basic division properties.

[Luana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is ideal for teaching division to students. It is repeated subtraction - taking away half of the remaining group each time.

[Shara Eddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would be good to use this book for a lesson in division and remainders. The illustrations could be a little confusing, but some do show the concept of division.

[Julia]

-Representing division.
-Use with caution. Not a read aloud story but use to present the math ideas