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Life of FredApplesStanley F. Schmidt, Ph.D.Polka Dot Publishing

2011 Stanley F. SchmidtAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-0-9791072-4-5Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2010936176Printed and bound in the United States of AmericaPolka Dot PublishingReno, NevadaTo order copies of books in the Life of Fred series,visit our website PolkaDotPublishing.comQuestions or comments? Email Polka Dot Publishing at lifeoffred@yahoo.comFirst printingLife of Fred: Apples was illustrated by the author with additional clip art furnished under licensefrom Nova Development Corporation, which holds the copyright to that art.

A Note Before We BeginHow quickly the days of childhood pass. One moment, they are alittle bundle on the bed.The next moment, they have discovered thedelights of triple integrals (as we find the weight ofone of Aunt Dorothenia’s raisin-and-apple muffinson page 310 in Life of Fred: Calculus.)Fred (and I) would liketo be a part of that journey with you. And we wouldlike to do our best to make those years as joyful asthey can be. So often mathematics seems to be themost terrifying and tear-filled subject in thecurriculum.It does not have to be.Math need not be aterrifying experience.One mom emailed me that she had to set atime limit on how long her child was spending withFred. Her daughter would start the day with Fred’s adventures and notwant to study the other subjects.

THE WAY MATH IS USUALLY TAUGHTPages and pages of worksheets.Circle the three alligators. Underline the two hippos.Drill-and-kill.No motivation.When I taught at the high school and college levels, the mostfrequent question that other math teachers and I got was, “Why are westudying this stuff ?”The traditional approach in, say, algebra is to show the studentshow to factor x2 7x 12w into (x 3)(x 4).Then they get 40 problems to do for homework.If they asked, “Why are we learning tofactor x2 7x 12?” the usual answer wassomething like, “So that you can simplify fractions2like x 7x 12x 4wwwhich is today’s lesson.”. . . and 40 more problems to do forhomework.1. x2 9x 142. x2 6x 53. x2 5x 64. x2 8x 75. x2 20x 1006. x2 14x 497. x2 11x 188. x2 9x 189. x2 19x 1810. x2 9x 2011. x2 10x 2112. etc.13. etc.14. etc.the traditional approachFew students have the courage to ask, “And why are we learninghow to simplify fractions?” They just bow their heads and suffer throughit.Is there any wonder that kids don’t seem to remember the math thatthey “learned”?wTo factor x2 7x 12, you find two numbers that add to 7 and that multiply to 12.That gives you the answer of (x 3)(x 4).ww8x2 7x 12x 4 (x 3)(x 4)x 4 (x 3)(x 4)x 4 x 3

In contrast, in the Life of Fred series, every piece of mathematics3 first happens in Fred’s everyday life,3 he needs it,3 then we do it.Everything is motivated—everything from introducing the numberzero in this book (as the number of elephants that Fred owns) to hyperbolictrigonometric functions, where we find three(!) uses for them on page 250of Life of Fred: Calculus when Fred and the 8'2" lion enter an all-you-caneat buffet.Mary Poppins said that a spoonful of sugar isn’t a bad thing. Weuse lots of sugar.HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANIZEDEach chapter is about six pages. At the end of each chapter is aYour Turn to Play.Have a paper and pencil handy before you sit down to read.Each Your Turn to Play consists of about three or four questions.Have your child write out the answers—not just orally answer them.After all the questions are answered, then take a peek at myanswers that are given on the next page. At this point your child hasearned the right to go on to the next chapter.Don’t just allow your child to read the questions and look at theanswers. Your child won’t learn as much taking that shortcut. Putsomething over the answers if there is a temptation to cheat. Or useclothes pins to prevent premature turning of thepage. One reader suggested that I sell plastic FredHeads to cover the answers.CALCULATORS?Not now. There will be plenty of time later (when you hit PreAlgebra). Right now in arithmetic, our job is to learn the addition andmultiplication facts by heart.9

ContentsChapter 1Early in the Morning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13five o’clockFred’s doll Kingie5 2 74 3 76 1 7Chapter 2Closer to Sunrise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19“No Mess Fred”circleellipsesix o’clockdays of the weekChapter 3What to Do before Dawn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25facts about Februarywearing warmer clothesseven o’clockChapter 4Going Jogging at Dawn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31reading the newspaper15 degrees below zerodeciduous trees10 10 20Chapter 5Feeling Cold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37curvy lines vs. straight linesfirst, second, third3x 4x 7xChapter 6Fred Goes to Class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Archimedeseight o’clockthe meaning of “a.m.”nine o’clockone hundred is ten rows and ten columns10

Chapter 7Waiting for the Rain to Stop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49before photography was inventedbest mathematician who lived over 500 years agowhy you shouldn’t be rudeten o’clockocean liners in Kansasplaces on earth to liveChapter 8Swimming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55circle, ellipse, squarecounting by fivesPacific and Atlantic oceanswhales are not fishplaying the “There Are Zero . . .” gameChapter 9To the Lake. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61making a circle into an ellipse (using an elephant)setsthe popularity of zeronaming a set with exactly 17 members in itChapter 10Getting a Boat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 697–1 6why squares and circles are boringtriangles aren’t boringtwelve o’clockherbivorescarnivores7–7 0Chapter 11The Hungry Bird. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75sugar rots teethone o’clock7 0 7Chapter 12A Leak. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81what checkmate looks likehow to spell yachtthe story of the Titanictwo o’clock11

Chapter 13Silly Duck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 893 4 15why Fred is not a bowl of soupducks who don’t tell the truthx 4 7letters of the Greek alphabetChapter 14To the Great Woods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95drawing triangles inside of circlesdrawing a circle inside any given trianglethree o’clockcounting by hundredsChapter 15In the Great Woods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101movies vs. real lifefive minutes after three o’clock3:053:10, 3:15, 3:20, 3:25, and 3:307–3 4Chapter 16Embarrassed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107rectanglesfour o’clockhow many sides on a stop signthe day before TuesdayChapter 17Going Home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113reading books to learn how to do things4:35the role of zero: 100 is a lot bigger than 1x 1 7Chapter 18Vending Machines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119a dime 10 centsdrawing comic stripsmembers of a setIndex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12512

Chapter OneEarly in the Morningred lay in his sleeping bag. It was early inthe morning, and it was still dark outside.Fred took his flashlight and shined it onthe clock on the wall.FIt was five o’clock. If this weresummertime, it would be getting light by now.But it was February. It would be dark foranother couple of hours.Fred liked to go jogging in the morning, buthe knew that if he jogged in the dark he wouldtrip and fall a lot. He was going to wait twomore hours until it was seven o’clock before hewent out running.Fred did not sleep in a regular bed likemost five-year-olds. He did not own a bed. Heslept in a sleeping bag.13

Chapter OneEarly in the MorningFive years ago when he cameto KITTENS University, he ownednothing except his doll, Kingie.Fred liked Kingie to sleepright next to him.KITTENS University gaveKingieFred a room on the third floor ofthe math building to use as his office. He madeit into his home.The only thing in that room was a big olddesk. Fred used to sleep on the top of the desk.When the janitor found out what Fred wasdoing, the janitor gave him alittle sleeping bag. It was onlythree feet long, but that was justthe right size for Fred. He putthe sleeping bag under his desk.That made it a safe little cave for Kingie andhim.Fred liked to talk to Kingie. Kingie didn’t sayvery much, but he was a very good listener. Years agoFred got Kingie as a free toy at the King of French Friesrestaurant. When Kingie was new, Fred could squeezehis tummy and he would sing a little song about frenchfries:; ; Butter fries are butter. ;;The song didn’t make much sense.14

Chapter OneEarly in the MorningAbout two weeks after Fred got Kingie, hisbattery died, and he stopped singing. Fred put anew battery in Kingie, but Kingie didn’t sing theButter fries song anymore. But Kingie stillliked to listen to whatever Fred had to say.Fred told Kingie, “Let’s wait two hoursbefore we get up. It’s five o’clock now, and if wewait until seven o’clock it will be light outside.”Kingie didn’t say anything, but Fred knewwhat Kingie was thinking: 5 2 7.Fred opened a desk drawer and took outsome pencils.7 pencilsKingie counted them. There were sevenpencils. Fred had a very smart doll.15

Chapter OneEarly in the MorningThen Fred straightened out the pencils.5 2 is 7He asked Kingie, “Now how many pencilsare there?” Fred knew that Kingie was gigglingsince that was such a silly question. If you startwith seven pencils and you move them aroundyou will still have seven pencils. Even a dollknows that is true.4 3 is 716

Chapter OneEarly in the Morning6 1 is 7Please take out a sheet of paper and writeyour answers. After you are all done, you cancheck your work on the next page.Your Turn to Play1. Sometimes, we write “6 1 is 7.” Sometimes, weuse an equals sign and write “6 1 7.”How would you write “4 3 is 7” using an equalssign?2. We know that 4 pencils plus 3 pencils equals 7pencils.What does 4 trees plus 3 trees equal?3. We know that 5 2 7.What does 2 5 equal?17

Chapter OneEarly in the Morning. . . . . . . ANSWERS . . . . . . .1. 4 3 72. 4 trees plus 3 trees equals 7 trees.3. 2 5 7If 5 2 7then 2 5 7.If 8 5 13then 5 8 13.If 10 20 30 then 20 10 30.x y always gives the same answer as y xwhere x and y can be any numbers.18

Chapter SixteenEmbarrassedFred asked one of the monkeys, “What doyou do all day long? I know you don’t stand stilllike the statues.”The monkey said, “We justmonkey around.3 We can’t read, so we don’t get smart.3 We don’t work, so we don’t make money.3 We just watch a lot of television.”Fred took a tennis ball out of his pocketand rolled it toward one of the monkeys.Four of the monkeys made a rectangle andstarted playing catch with the ball.There were seven monkeys. Four of themwere standing at the corners of a rectangleplaying catch with Fred’s ball. The other threemonkeys couldn’t make a rectangle.109

Chapter SixteenEmbarrassedSo they made a triangle. Since they didn’thave a ball to play with, they used Fred.At first, Fred was frightened, but after awhile it became fun. He was happy they wereplaying catch and not football with him!After a while, the monkeys got tired andwent back to watching television.Fred didn’t want to spendhis time watching some clownon television. It was gettinglate and he needed to get hometo take care of his doll, Kingie.4:00110