Nickel-and-Diming the Math Guy

The subject of "a million dollars" came up in Lynn and Judy's first and second grade class yesterday, and so we took a few minutes to check children's understanding of money amounts (which will be a focus of work soon after the break). I began by asking whether they thought I might have a million dollars in coins in my pocket. When they said no, I pulled out my life savings of approximately 87 cents and asked them to reconsider, now that they could see the vast amount of metal resting in my palm. Again, they denied that I was anywhere near a million dollars. So, I had them count it together--quarters first, then dimes, then my only nickel, and finally the pennies. "You don't even have one dollar," they informed me. "See, we were right."

We then repeated the process with Judy's coins. Though she had almost twice as much money as I did, the children agreed that Judy, too, was quite some distance from a million dollars.

It was at this point that a boy in the class raised his hand. "If a dime is worth ten cents and a nickel is only worth five cents," he said, "why is a nickel bigger than a dime?"

Amazingly enough, though I always take pains to point out the size difference, I have NEVER been asked this question before. Nor, I discovered, did I know the answer. "I don't know," I admitted. "I think we're going to have to look this one up. After vacation. Remind me, please!"

And that should have been that until after vacation. But the question was burning a hole in my brain. So I looked it up. And if you're curious, you too can find the answer at http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/nickels-bigger-dimes.html.

Now how to put it into language that children will understand...