Planet of Five

Introduction  Task  Process   Evaluation

Introduction:

    Aliens from Planet of Five, Quinceland, have made contact with Earth.  They are very friendly creatures and want to set up commerce with Earthlings. 

    It was discovered that Quinceland has a natural resource ore that is abundant and is a never-ending source of energy when mixed with water.  Querzer, that is the name of the mineral, has the potential to save Earth from its energy shortages and is not polluting at all.  The Quincelanders are eager to trade with Earth, because they have a never-ending need for sunflower seeds-- their primary source for food.

Task:

    You have been chosen to purchase Querzer from the aliens.  You are to learn to communicate with the aliens of Quinceland in their mathematical number system.  In this way, you will help Earth with its energy shortages.

The Process:

You will learn to :

1. Count in the aliens' number system

2. Translate amounts written by the aliens to Earth numbers

3. Add and subtract in the aliens' number system

Getting started:

JOB #1

Materials:

    Fold the paper in half to make a 5.5 inch by 8.5 inch booklet. Staple the fold to hold the pages together. Design a front title page that includes your name, the title "Alien Mathematics," and a drawing of the Quinceland alien.  Read the description of the alien so that the picture is accurate.  We wouldn't want to offend our new friends.

Description

    The aliens are like humans in many ways.  They have lungs for breathing and a nose for smelling.  They have eyes to see.  They are about the same size of humans, but with all these similarities the aliens were different .

    Five is an important number to the Quincelanders.  They have two arms with two fingers on one hand and 3 fingers on the other-- five fingers altogether.  They have 5 eyes and five ears.  He walked on 5 legs.

JOB #2 Learning to count

Extra materials:

Vocabulary

    You are going to learn to count like an alien child. You will start with no counters in front of you. Follow these directions as you read them.

 You add one bean and record the amount on the adding machine tape,       1

add another counter, record   2

add another counter, record   3

add, record   4

add, record 5 (oops, aliens do not have that digit.)

Group the blocks together so there are exactly 5 in the group and record the alien way of showing 5.

  10 (called a quinceen)

add another block to your work and record

   (named quinceen-one) 11

  12 (quinceen-two)

13  (quinceen-three)

14

20 (twoceen)

Do you understand the system? 

Yes If you do, continue counting by yourself until you have counted and recorded 24 Earth counters.  Then check with your math teacher before going to the next JOB.

No? Click to this page to get more help counting.

JOB #3 Learning to translate

Gather the groups of blocks and write the amounts in Alien numbers. Copy the chart into your alien math book and fill in the blanks.

Earth amounts                    Alien number

14 blocks=

22           =

9             =

17            =

10            =

24            =

Check with your math teacher before going on.

JOB #4 Creating a alien place value kit

Materials:

    Glue 5 beans on each stick.  Make 50 quinceen sticks.  Use the quinceen sticks you made and glue 5 sticks together to make a quincundred raft.  Make 7 rafts. Bag it.

Copy the table below and complete it.

Check with your teacher before you go on.

Job #5 Learn the language.

Name the numbers so you can communicate to the aliens.

Fill out the table below:

Check with your teacher.

Job #7 The test

The quincelanders have ordered 233 pounds of sunflower seeds.  How many pounds will you tell our workers to load in their shuttle?  Explain how you figured it out. Use the following form:

I need to know

I know

Here is my calculation:

My explanation is

Therefore, I need to

Check with your teacher to determine if you are ready to represent Earth in our business venture.

Evaluation: