Wonka Vites

In Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Charlie's grandparents are eager to take Wonka Vites. Each of these pills promises to take 20 years off their age. However, 78-year-old Grandma Georgina takes 4 Wonka-Vites, making her -2 years old.

Reading this book aloud to my class presented a lovely and confusing opportunity to explain negative numbers. On the white board, I drew a number line and began drawing a model of Grandma Georgina's rapidly shrinking age. "What do you think will happen to Grandma Georgina?" I said, as we subtracted more and more years from her age, getting closer and closer to the 0 on the number line.

"She'll be a baby!" some students cried.

"She'll be less than zero!" one student said.

"What happens when you're less than zero?" I asked, wondering what the kids would say.

"I know!!!!" N. yelled excitedly. We all looked at him. No response.

"I think you're not alive," said another student.

"No! I know what it is!" N. said yet again. He appeared to be thinking very hard but couldn't come up with the words for whatever he wanted to say.

We went back to the number line, trying to grasp the concept of numbers less than 0. Then suddenly N. interrupted our conversation.

"I know!!!" he yelled, as the whole class turned to face him.

"I know what you are if you're less than 0!!!" He was up on his knees, hands raised above his head in triumph.

"SPERM!"