THE RABBIT PROBLEM

By Emily Gravett
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 978-1-4424-1255-2

FROM THE FLAP: This book is based on a problem that was solved in the 13th century by the Mathematician Fibonacci, but it is NOT (I repeat NOT) a book about math. It’s a book about rabbits… Lots of rabbits!

KATE'S TAKE: Creative, challenging and fun. How long will it take your students to crack the code?

CLASS COOKBOOK Verbal/Linguistic, Interpersonal, and Visual/Spatial
Ask students to bring in a copy of their favorite recipe. Have them type up their recipe and decorate their page with a border.

CLASS NEWSLETTER Verbal/Linguistic and Interpersonal
During the month of July the rabbits in Fibonacci’s Field publish a newspaper. Have each student write a short blurb for a class newsletter.

CRACKING THE CODE Logical/Mathematical
Students love cracking Fibonacci’s code. Give them the book and the following worksheet and let them go at it!

FIBONACCI’S CODE

Fibonacci, an Italian man who lived in 1202, discovered a mathematical code and presented it to western scholars. Indian scholars studied this code as early as 200 B.C. With the help of Emily Gravett’s book, The Rabbit Problem, you can crack Fibonacci’s Code.

Look at the book. At the top of each calendar page, she lists the rabbit population. Copy each month’s population below:
January ____
February ____
March ____
April ____
May ____
June ____
July ____
August ____
September ____
October ____
November ____
December ____ (Put the first number here, not zero.)
Now, if all the rabbits stayed, what would the next month’s population be?
January ____
How did you crack Fibonacci’s Code?
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FAMILY TREE Intrapersonal and Verbal/Linguistic
When the rabbits have their first babies in March, they create a family tree. Ask each student to bring in the names of their relatives and ancestors to create their own personal family tree.

PLANT GRAPHS Naturalist and Logical/Mathematical
During the month of June, the rabbits plant lettuce and carrot seeds. Have some students plant three pots of lettuce seeds while other students plant three pots of carrot seeds. Give one pot light and water, and another pot water but not light, and the last pot light but not water. Ask students to chart the growth of each pot. Compare and contrast the growth of the three pots and the growth of the lettuce to the carrots.

BOOK BUDDIES
-Multiplying Menace: The Revenge of Rumpelstiltskin by Pam Calvert
-Mummy Math: An Adventure in Geometry by Cindy Neuschwander
-The Lion’s Share by Matt McElligot
-The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger
-The Man Who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures by Malba Tahan