My Rows and Piles of Coins

Author: Tolowa M. Mollel

Publisher/Date: Clarion Books, 1999

ISBN: 0-395-75186-1

Grade Levels Recommended for Use: 6-8

Brief Summary: Saruni of Tanzania doesn't buy any wonderful things at the market because he is saving money to buy something special. He wants to buy a bike to help his mom carry heavy goods to market. His generosity and determination earn unexpected rewards.

Topics: Monetary systems; word problems; permutations

Suggested Activities:

First read the story "My Rows and Piles of Coins." Discuss the type of coins that Saruni was collecting. Compare and contrast Tanzania and U.S. coins.

Using paper coins or manipulatives to represent coins, demonstrate the rows and piles of coins Saruni had collected. Conduct a group discussion with students about how much money or how many coins Saruni had saved and why he couldn't buy the red and white bike he wanted with the coins he had saved. Students may write a word problem using the amount of money that Saruni had saved to buy his bike.

Find how many arrangements of coins are possible if Saruni chose three coins at random from a bag with all his saved coins.