About the Holiday

Today’s holiday celebrates the merging of math and technology together as the foundation of most of the things we use every day, such as computers, phones, tablets and other electronics. Math and technology are also employed by architects, scientists, researchers, and manufacturers. Math 2.0 Day was established to bring together mathematicians, programmers, engineers, educators, and managers to raise awareness of the importance of math literacy at all levels of education.

A Million Dots

By Sven Völker

With one green dot (and one brown rectangle) you can make a tree. Add one plus one and you can make two trees. Two plus two? Well, four trees might get a little boring. Why not put two apples on each tree? Then four people can enjoy a snack. In the autumn, those apples fall. There are four plus four dots on the ground—how many does that make? Eight!

Copyright Sven Völker, 2019, courtesy of Cicada Books and svenvolker.com.

Eight plus eight? A nice number of dots for a ladybug’s wings. Won’t you count them? How about  adding those sixteen to another sixteen? Those thirty-two dots are still contained in a box. But thirty-two plus thirty-two? At sixty-four the dots spill out, colorful and free! Sixty-four plus sixty-four dots make one hundred and twenty-eight bubbles in a fizzy drink. Add one hundred and twenty-eight to itself and what do you get? A face full of freckles! What happens if you keep adding and adding? What can you make? Two thousand and forty-eight plus two thousand and forty-eight makes a night sky of stars, their reflections on the sea and the lights on the ship that sails it.

Copyright Sven Völker, 2019, courtesy of Cicada Books and svenvolker.com.

Thirty-two thousand, seven hundred and sixty-eight plus thirty-two thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight makes sixty-five thousand, five hundred and thirty-six—enough dots for a soccer field to mow. Twice that is a desert of sand to scoop. Moving on to two hundred and sixty-two thousand, one hundred and forty-four plus the same, a blanket of steam streams out of a train stack five hundred and twenty-four thousand, two hundred and eighty-eight dots long, past the coal car and the long tanker car.

But what can be made when these half-a-million dots and a little are added together? One million and forty-eight thousand, five hundred and seventy-six dots filling apartment buildings, office towers, and inspiring skyscrapers in a fabulous city—maybe it’s yours!

Copyright Sven Völker, 2019, courtesy of Cicada Books and svenvolker.com.

One, two, ten, even one hundred—you can see that number of people or items in your mind. It’s hard, though, especially for children, to visualize a thousand, a hundred thousand, a half a million, even a million. In his stylish book, Sven Völker translates these numbers into dots and uses them to create images that are both humorous and awe-inspiring. One dot nearly fills the page, but by the time the numbers have been doubled and doubled multiple times, half-a-million and then a million minuscule dots require pages that fold out and out and out and out…and out! Each number is presented in words and numbers allowing children to see and learn each interpretation. Kids who love numbers and counting and visual proofs will have a blast connecting these dots.

An entertaining and educational way to relay the idea of number to kids at home or in the classroom, A Million Dots will elicit multiple exclamations of “Wow!” as the numbers add up. 

A Million Dots is a New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books Award winner for 2019.

Ages 4 – 12

Cicada Books, 2019 | ISBN 978-1908714664

To learn more about Sven Völker, his books, and his art, visit his website.

Math 2.0 Day Activity

Totally Cool Mystery Phrase Math Puzzle

There’s no mystery to how fun math can be! Use the numerical clues in this printable Totally Cool Mystery Phrase Math Puzzle to discover a hidden message! Add the numbers under each line then use that number to find the corresponding letter of the alphabet. Write that letter in the space. Continue until the entire phrase is completed.