by Lydia Barriman
illustrated by Becky Grutzik
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Graphic UniverseTM • Minneapolis • new York
JoY
Medina
adaM
BreGMan
ToM
Johnson
sTacY
lowicki
saM
carTer
Michelle
carTer
aMY
sifU
TsanG
faiza
Mr.
Mrs.
TsanG
TsanG
Probability is the chance that something will happen. It’s often helpful to know if an outcome is likely or unlikely. Probability uses numbers to help us decide how likely an outcome is. We can think of probability as a fraction, or a part, of the total number of possible outcomes.
When we flip a coin and call heads or tails, we’re using probability. The coin has just 2 sides, so the chance of the coin landing on heads is 1 in 2. The probability of it landing on tails is also 1 in 2. We know they are equally likely outcomes. When we roll dice, there are more possible outcomes. A die has 6
sides, so the probability of rolling a certain number is 1 in 6.
Story by Lydia Barriman
Pencils and inks by Becky Grutzik
Coloring by Hi-Fi Design
Lettering by Grace Lu
Copyright © 2011 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
Graphic Universe™ is a trademark of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.
Graphic Universe™
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Website address: www.lernerbooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Barriman, Lydia.
The runaway puppy : a mystery with probability / by Lydia Barriman ; illustrated by Becky Grutzik.
p. cm. — (Manga math mysteries ; #8)
Summary: When Amy's puppy runs away, the kung fu students make a bar chart showing places the dog is most familiar with and how often she has visited them in order to determine the probability of where she might be.
ISBN: 978–0–7613–4910–5 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper) 1. Graphic novels. [1. Graphic novels. 2. Mystery and detective stories.
3. Mathematics—Fiction. 4. Lost and found possessions—Fiction. 5. Dogs—
Fiction. 6. Animals—Infancy—Fiction. 7. Kung fu—Fiction.] I. Grutzik, Becky, ill.
II. Title.
PZ7.7.B37Run 2011
741.5'973—dc22
2010001432
Manufactured in the United States of America 1 – DP – 7/15/10
eISBN: 978-0-7613-6229-6
Did Amy
say why she
wanted us
to come to
her house?
She just
said to meet
her in her
backyard
because
she has a
surprise.
Close
the
gate!
5
Brada,
you silly
dog!
Amy, you
got a
puppy!
Why’s
her name
Brada?
She’s
great!
It’s short for
Bradamante. That’s
the name of one
of Charlemagne’s
knights.
Shar-luh-mayn?
Who’s that?
Bradamante was
Charlemagne
He had two
one of the bravest
was a
knights who
knights in the kingdom.
legendary
were brother
She also had golden hair.
king, like
and sister:
King Arthur.
Rinaldo and
Bradamante.
Brada has
gold hair,
and nothing She’d explore
scares her.
the whole
neighborhood
if we didn’t
make sure
the gate was
latched.
Here,
Brada!
Good
girl!
Michelle,
you can keep
her company
while we get
her food.
OK!
7
How is
Shhhh.
your mom
Mom’s
feeling?
taking
a nap.
Much
better. The doctor says
she can go back
to work soon.
She even takes
I’m glad
Brada for a walk
she’s better.
every day.
Thanks
for
asking.
Oh no!
8
Hahahahaha!
Oh, Michelle! I worked hard
to rake those leaves. Now
I’ll rake
I’ll have to do it again.
them. It’s
only fair.
I’m sorry.
We were
just having
fun.
I’m
not sure
you have
time. We’re
supposed to
meet Sifu
soon.
It took me
all morning
to rake those
leaves by
myself.
If we all
work together,
how long do
you think it
will take?
9
We’ll work together
It doesn’t
for as long as we can,
take very
and we’ll see how
long to
much we get done.
rake the
leaves when
Mom and Dad
and I work
together,
but I can’t
remember
exactly
how long.
We need to leave
right now, or
If it’s OK
we’ll be late.
with your
parents,
we can come
back and
OK. I can
help you
rake all the
finish, Amy.
small piles
into a big one
after kung
fu class.
Maybe we
can invite
Joy, Tom,
and Stacy.
I’m sure
they’d like
to meet
Brada too.
10
Amy, I’ve
never seen
you working
alone in
your garden.
Your mom
is always
there.
We always
used to
work in the
garden as a
family, but
Mom’s been
too sick.
Dad and I
said we’d work
together to
keep the house Dad took care
nice for her.
of the inside,
and I took care
of the outside.
Now Mom’s better,
and when she’s
ready to garden again,
all her plants will be
waiting for her.
11
Hi!
We’ve just
finished putting
Are we early?
Hi, guys!
up new shelves.
Where’s Joy?
You’re just
The kung fu
in time!
studio is going
to look better
than ever!
ding-
dong
We’re
definitely
not early.
12
Hello,
Children!
Hi, Sifu!
Thank
you for
coming
to help.
We’re going
to put
this gear
on the
shelves,
but
let’s get
organized
first.
13
We want to put the things
we use most often in a place
What are we most
where they are easy to
likely to use on any
reach. So let’s figure out
given day?
how often we use each type
of kung fu gear.
This is kind
of like a
probability
That’s right,
problem.
Adam. We want
to know the
probability
that we’ll use
each typE of
gear.
This is last
month’s class
calendar. The
pictures tell us
which type of
gear we used on
each day.
14
I see four different
pictures. So each day,
we used one of four
types of gear.
Which things
did we use?
I’ll write
them down.
On any given day,
we used focus
mitts, jump ropes,
helmets, or
striking pads.
There are 4
possible types
of gear used.
Focus mitts
Jump ropes
Helmets
Striking pads
Now, can you tell which
kind of gear we’re
MOST LIKELY to use?
Twelve days
have focus mitts.
That’s way more
than any other
kind of equipment.
So we’re MOST
That’s
LIKELY to use
correct.
those.
I’ll count
the jump
ropes.
There are 4 possible
types of gear used.
Focus mitts: 12 days
Jump ropes
Helmets
Striking pads
We are most likely
to use focus mitts.
I’ll count
the helmets.
There are 6
days when we used
jump ropes.
We used
helmets
on 6 days
too!
Focus mitts: 12 days
Jump ropes: 6 days
Helmets: 6 days
Striking pads
We are most likely
to use focus mitts.
That means
we’re equally
likely to use
jump ropes or
helmets.
I don’t
think we
use striking
pads often
at all.
We only used
striking pads
twice. So we’re
least likely to
use striking
pads.
17
Focus mitts: 12 days
Jump ropes: 6 days
That’s all
Helmets: 6 days
the different
Striking pads: 2 days
kinds of
pictures.
We’ve counted
We are most likely
all the kinds
to use focus mitts.
of gear we’ve
used.
We are equally likely
to use jump ropes or
helmets.
We are least likely to
use striking pads.
Now Amy, Tom,
Stacy, Joy, and
Adam can put the
gear away.
Put the gear
we’re most
likely to need
where it’s
easiest to
reach. The gear
we’re least
likely to use
can go on the
shelf that’s
hardest to
reach.
Sam, Michelle,
will you help
me clean the
rest of the
school?
18
The things we put
up high will be the
hardest thing to get
down, so we’ll put the
gear we’re least likely
to use up there.
How have you
been, Amy?
Good!
I have
a new
puppy.
Oh cool!
I’ve
always
wanted
a puppy.
You guys
If my
can come
parents say
too.
it’s OK, you
can come
over and
meet her.
. . . if you
don’t
mind
helping
us rake
some
leaves . . .
19
Sifu, we used
. . . but we
last month’s
don’t know
calendar to
that this
decide which gear
month will
we used most.
be just
like last
month . . .
That’s
right,
Sam.
That’s
true.
Probabilities can only tell us what’s likely to happen in the future. This month might be completely different from last month.
Maybe after we use
Imagine, though, how hard it
the equipment for
would be to decide where to put
a while, we’ll decide
everything if we hadn’t had the
this arrangement
calendar. We would have had to
doesn’t work and
make wild guesses.
make changes.
Something
&nb
sp; like that
happened
today . . .
20
Today, we wanted
to know how long
it would take to
rake a pile of leaves, We had to guess,
but Amy couldn’t
but our guess
remember.
wasn’t very
accurate.
There are tricks to
remembering. It helps some
people to make lists. Some
people like to draw
pictures.
If you know you have
to remember something,
the best way is to write it
down before you forget.
Sifu, may we
use your
Of course,
Thank you,
phone to call
Amy.
children. Now,
our parents?
let’s have
some lunch.
Thank
Good-bye!
you for
I’ll see
lunch,
you in
Sifu!
class.
I’m so
glad our
parents
said yes!
It’s been
forever
since I’ve
had friends
over.
Dad’s bringing
us a pizza
soon, but Mom
might still be
sleeping. Let’s
stay in the
backyard for a
little while.
Oh no!
Brada!
I must have
forgotten
to latch the
gate. She’s
gone!
We’ll help
you find
She
her, Amy. Is
must’ve
that her
rubbed it
collar?
off.
It’s dangerous for
her to be outside the
fence. She could get
Then we’ll
hit by a car, or--
have to
find her
fast.
I want to
Let’s
look right
make a
now.
list of
places
to look.
Joy’s right,
Amy. We’ll
find her
faster if
we take a
moment to
think.
23
Let’s
How would
make a
we know
list of
that?
all the
places
Brada is
likely
to be.
We do what we did
this morning. We use what
we know about the past
Where do you take
to guess the future.
Brada when you
walk her, Amy?
Sometimes
we go to
the park . . .
Yesterday, I
took her to
the pool . . .
I just can’t
remember. I’m so
worried about
Brada.
24
That’s only
We don’t have much
two places.
time before Dad
Manga Math Mysteries 8: The Runaway Puppy: A Mystery with Probability (Graphic Universe) Page 1
