The first thing that I did before starting to read, “The Seventh Night” from The Number Devil, was to skim over Christina’s past blog posts on the chapter. I wanted to refresh my memory being that I am so unfamiliar with the topic. Next, before reading, I did a little bit of research about Pascal’s Triangle. I know that this mathematical number pattern, but that is where my knowledge ended. I wanted to have a better understanding of the topic before reading the story, and I found a very useful website that explained the number pattern in a somewhat simple way.
The website states: “One of the most interesting Number Patterns is Pascal’s Triangle (named after Blaise Pascal, a famous French Mathematician and Philosopher).
To build the triangle, start with ‘1’ at the top, then continue placing numbers below it in a triangular pattern. Each number is the two numbers above it added together (except for the edges, which are all ‘1’). (Here I have highlighted that 1+3 = 4) “
It amazed me how intricate the triangle could become, while forming other triangles within it (like the Sierpinski Triangle, that forms when you color the odd and even numbers) Thanks to the website (that I’ll post below!) I understood the basics of Pascal’s Triangle, and felt comfortable to begin my reading of the chapter.
http://www.mathsisfun.com/pascals-triangle.html
When I started to read this chapter, I was immediately curious about the first six chapters of the book. I’m very curious to see how Robert and the Number Devil became acquainted, and plan to look that up!
I love the mathematical references throughout the chapter; when Robert and the Number Devil began building the pyramid, Robert says
“And you get sixteen. A hopping number. A two that’s been made to hop four times: 2^4”
I am assuming that this is referencing something from a previous chapter that perhaps, the Number Devil taught to Robert. It is great for the students reading this book to see the reinforcement of different forms of math throughout the story. I think that the images in the chapter that I have seen so far are extremely helpful to students (and readers like me!) that are not as knowledgeable of math.
Something that I noticed while reading, was that the language used throughout the chapter is not extremely difficult. I think it is important to keep this as an “easy” read, being that the text is teaching a math technique. If the language used were more “textbook-ish” I don’t think that it would have as much of an effect on the students reading it. If I were going to be a math teacher, I think that I would definitely like to incorporate texts like The Number Devil into my classes, to help my students better understand certain mathematical theories and formulas. I am really looking forward to continue reading the chapter, and learn more about Robert’s adventure with Pascal’s Triangle.
lvansise 
Hi Lauren!
I’m happy that you have had a good experience with The Number Devil thus far. You mention that you first looked at my previous posts before reading. I think this was a great idea to familiarize yourself before reading. You also researched the topic. This is always a great thing to do before, during, or after learning about a math topic. Further research can always help one’s understanding of a topic. I noticed that you did not understand the “hopping numbers” in the chapter. You are right that this was covered in a previous chapter. I was worried about that when I started reading the chapter because I did not want you to be confused about it. Essentially, the base number hops the number of times that is in the exponent. You then multiply the base number by itself the number of times in the exponent. So, 2^4 is two hopped four times, which is 2x2x2x2 = 16.
I am happy to see that you are noticing how detailed the triangle is and recognize that this is a great source to keep students engaged in math classes. The text is an easy read, allowing students to truly understand what is trying to be taught.
I can’t wait to see what you think of the rest of the book!
Christina
Hi Christina!
Thank you for clearing up the “hopping numbers” for me. That is an interesting way of explaining exponents; I can definitely see that being appealing to young students learning how to work with exponents.
Lauren