Life of Fred: Mineshaft

Mineshaft is the third book in the Life of Fred Intermediate Series, which is designed for students who have completed the elementary series books, but have not yet completed grade 5.

Each narrative-based chapter is approximately six pages, and ends with a "Your Turn to Play" segment with three or four questions. Answers are provided on the next page for students to go over themselves after attempting to solve the problems. This book should take approximately one month to complete.

Mineshaft covers: Milligrams and Pounds, Rounding Numbers; a Trillion Pounds of Rice to Cuba; the Number of Stars in a Typical Galaxy; Three-eighths of 19,416; Is a Quart less than (<) a Duck?; What to Do with Eleven Hours of Free Time Each Day; Six Is What Fraction of 24? Post Meridiem; Exponents; Extending the Domain of a Function; What Piece of Leather Made Feudalism Possible; Perpendicular Lines; Diminutives; Silent Letters; Rhombus; Can a Four-sided Figure Have Exactly Three Right Angles? Cardinality of Sets; Sectors; Most Horses Achieve Few Outstanding Things in Life; the Reason to Learn the Greek Alphabet; Square Knots; Inverse Operations; How Concrete Is Different than Cement; Prolix vs. Laconic; Freedom vs. Liberty; the Largest Cardinal Number Isn't Six; Ounces, Gills, and Pints; Italicizing Book Titles; 30% of 270; Division by 100; Broiling vs. Pan Frying; Freud, Skinner, and Maslow; the Four Types of Sentences; Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs; Pangolins; Mammals; Subtracting 3 oz. From 4 lbs. 2 oz.; Subtracting 7 Minutes 25 Seconds from 20 Minutes 10 Seconds; Subtracting 2 Gallons 1 Quart from 4 Gallons; Chords of a Circle; Three Definitions of Diameter; Steak for One-year-olds; Subtracting 40 Feet from 9 Miles; Fahrenheit to Celsius Conversions; Questions People Have at Different Stages in Life; Why You Won't Bump into Moby Dick in Kansas; Does x < y Imply y > x? Converting 39 Inches into Feet; Indications Your Daughter Will Become an English Major; Finding the Sale Price after Taking 40% Off; the Image of an Element in the Domain of a Function; 63 degrees F = 17 2/9 degrees C.

Life of Fred is a unique, complete (not supplemental), math program that uses a highly engaging narrative to teach math without fear and with enjoyment. Students follow the life of Fred Gauss (a math professor who grows up to the age of six), who has many humorous, unlikely, and zany adventures over the course of the curriculum. Math becomes relevant and important because the need for math occurs in Fred's life (and he sees math everywhere). Witty and truly entertaining, these books will engage students in a way unlike any other math program - --while also instilling a solid understanding of the principles of mathematics without an abundance of repetitive drills. This series is perfect for inquisitive students who struggle with the relevance of math, or anyone looking for a creative approach to mathematic thinking!

128 pages, indexed; hardcover, non-consumable textbook with Smyth-sewn binding. Students write their answers on separate paper. Answers are also included in the text and written directly to the student.