A Place for Zero A Math Adventure Written by Angeline S. LoPresti

Read page 3 to set the scene and introduce the main character - Zero. Question – “He felt he had no place among the other digits.” How would you describe how Zero felt? Can you show me a sad face? Does Zero make you think of another character from other stories? Ugly Duckling, Rudolph (he never got to play reindeer games)

Read page 4 to introduce the supporting characters – King Multiplus, Queen Addeleine, and Count Infinity, the King’s trusted advisor.

Scene 1 Zero: “I need to find my place.”

Scene 2 Count Infinity: “Ah, young Zero! You’re just in time to help me figure out a better way to make a 1”

Zero: “What do you mean?”

County Infinity: “Well, most numbers are easy to make. I simply pop a handful of 1’s into my trusty Numberator. Making a 1, though – that’s trickier. To make a 1, I spend hours handcrafting it from a special material called integrium.”

Zero: Why don’t you just stick one 1 into the Numberator?

Count Infinity: “I’ve tried that, but the Numberator adds. You have to put in at least two numbers. No two numbers that 1 can think of add up to 1. Could you put this 1 into the Numberator for me? Just help the 1 stand right under the vacuum tube…… Action: Zero sucked up in to the Numberator.

Count Infinity: “Wonderful!, we have discovered your identity. I bet my binomials that if we add you to any number, we will always come up with the same number. You can help replenish the supply of digits in Digitatia!”

Scene 3 Zero: “I still feel that I haven’t really found my place. I wonder what would happen if I were multiplied with another number?”

Questions: How is zero feeling now? What do you think is going to happen?

Summarize the rest of story. Questions: How is Zero feeling now? How did Zero’s actions contribute to the sequence of events?