Uncle Math’s Thank You Card

Topic : Commutative property of addition

“Uncle Math is so kind and generous. He is always so helpful. We should do something to thank him for everything he has done for us,” says Cirho. “How about a handmade thank you card guys?” suggests Triho. Everybody loves the idea and starts thinking of how the card should look.

The kids are excited and decide to make a big card. They equally divide their tasks to complete the card as soon as possible. Triho wants to paint it light blue. But they do not have a light blue colour. What will he do now?

“Hey! We can mix white and dark blue to get light blue,” suggests Cirha. Triho is exhilarated. He quickly takes 2 parts of white and 1 part of dark blue. He then mixes it nicely to get a light blue colour. Both of them are overjoyed. They quickly start painting light blue. <Scene: 2 Uncleops of white + 1 Uncleop of dark blue = Light blue>

“Oh no! The light blue colour is over. Let me mix more to complete the leftover part,” says Cirha.

But this time, Cirha takes 1 part of dark blue first and 2 parts of white later. She mixes it nicely. Do you think she got the same light blue?  Of course, she did! <Scene: 1 Uncleop of dark blue + 2 Uncleops of white = Light blue>

“Hey, Cirha! You did not mix the colours in the same order as mine. Still, you got the same colour. Isn’t it amazing?” says Triho. Both of them are amazed. <Scene: Page 3 and 4 illustration mixed. Arrows should show that the paints are exchanged in order>

On the other hand, Squarho and Cirho want to use an orange colour in the card. Their colour box also does not have orange. So they decide to mix red and yellow to make orange. Squarho takes 2 parts of yellow and 1 part of red. He mixes it nicely and gets a bright orange shade. He is happy. <Scene: 2 drops of yellow + 1 drop of red = orange>

Squarho and Cirho start painting. Soon the colour is over but, some more part of the card is left. 

“I will make orange this time,” says Cirho. He takes 1 part of red first and 2 parts of yellow later. But, even before Cirho could mix entirely, something happened. Squarho gets furious.

<Scene: 1 drop of red + 2 drops of yellow! No showing result.>

“Cirho! You mixed the colours in the wrong way. You had to take yellow first and then red,” screams Squarho. Hearing this, Cirho is scared. “Oh no! Have I spoiled the card? Uncle Math would not like this. I am so sorry guys!” he sobs. Unable to grasp what was happening, Triho and Cirha ask them to calm down first.

“Nothing will happen to the card. You are not wrong Cirho!” says Cirha as she pacifies him. 

“Exactly! Whether you add 2 parts yellow first and 1 part red later or 1 part yellow first and 2 parts red later, you will still get the same orange. Even when Cirha and I did not mix the colour in the same order, we still got the exact shade,” explains Triho <Scene: Similar to Page 5, the colours must be red, yellow and orange here>

Hearing this, Cirho mixes his orange neatly and gets the same orange shade just like Squarho’s.

He looks at Squarho with anger. Squarho looks down with embarrassment. He should not have screamed at him without analyzing the situation. He accepts his mistake and apologizes.

Cirho has a big heart. He immediately accepts his apology. Soon after, they rush to complete the card. “Together is so much better,” says Cirho to himself.

Hurray! The card is ready. Doesn’t it look beautiful? Uncle Math Loves the card.

The kids rush to present the card to Uncle Math. They seem nervous too. “Hopefully, he likes our card,” they say to themselves. “This is so beautiful. ChilUncleen, thank you so much,” says Uncle Math. He is overwhelmed and hugs them tightly. His eyes are filled with tears too. The kids get emotional too. With full excitement, they narrate the entire story of how they made the card.

Uncle Math then explains, “That is because of the Order Property of Addition. Whenever we add any numbers, the order in which we add does not matter. The result will still be the same just like your paints. Even when you mixed them in different orders, you still got the same result.” <Scene: Both the paint examples should be shown as per the reference image attached>

Quickly, Uncle Math offers cakes and chocolates to the kids. Everybody starts hogging. “Whether I eat 5 cakes first and 3 chocolates later or swap the order, in the end, I am still not going to be full,” says Squarho. Everybody bursts into laughter. This is a great application of order property indeed. Undoubtedly, it has been an emotional roller coaster day.

We Learnt That…

• When adding, the numbers can be swapped. The result will still be the same. This is called the Order Property of addition.
• The properties of addition help us calculate addition problems faster.
• Reacting before even analyzing any situation is bad.
• Apologizing for our mistakes is a brave act.

Let’s Discuss

• What were we making today?
• How did we get the light blue and orange colours?
• We used paints to explain the order property of addition, Can you explain the same with your own example?
• All the characters went through various emotions in the story. Can you spot all the emotions and their reason?
• Feelings and emotions are related. Do you agree? Why or why not?