Manga Math Mysteries 8: The Runaway Puppy: A Mystery with Probability (Graphic Universe)
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gets home.
That’s enough
to get started.
Let’s go!
Let’s go
look at the
park, and if
we have time,
we can go to
the pool.
Brada really
likes the park.
I think she’ll
be there.
BRADA!
I don’t
think she’s
here, Amy.
Let’s go
see if she
went to
the pool.
25
Here,
Brada!
Brada!
Come on,
Girl!
Don’t worry,
Brada
Maybe if we tell
Amy. You said
must be so
your parents Brada’s
this afternoon
scared.
missing, they can help
that she’s a
us think of more
brave little
places to look.
puppy. I bet
she’s OK.
I guess so.
We’ll find her
soon, Amy.
She has to be
somewhere . . .
26
I just feel so dumb!
Dad said I could have a
puppy because I’d been
so responsible helping
him and Mom around
the house . . .
… and then
I forgot to
latch the
gate.
Oh, it’s OK,
Dad, Brada
honey. We’ll
ran away!
find her.
Hi, kids!
Why all
the long
faces?
Let’s go
inside and eat.
We’ll figure out
what to do.
Hi, kids! It’s
so nice to
see you.
What’s
Mom,
wrong?
Brada’s
gone!
Oh no!
It’s all
my fault.
I forgot
to latch
the gate.
Don’t be
so hard on
yourself,
Amy.
28
You were always
You were always
really busy with
really busy with
But maybe you’re
But maybe you’re
We’re
We’re
school and kung
school and kung
doing too much. Even
doing too much. Even
really proud
really proud
fu. Now, you’re
fu. Now, you’re
grown-ups make
grown-ups make
of all you’re
of all you’re
helping your dad
helping your dad
mistakes when they’re
mistakes when they’re
doing.
doing.
and me
and me . . . . . .
busy and tired
busy and tired . . . . . .
… … or when
or when
they’re
they’re
hungry
hungry.
.
Let’s have some pizza. You kids
Let’s have some pizza. You kids
tell us where you’ve looked,
tell us where you’ve looked,
and we’ll figure out what to
and we’ll figure out what to
do next.
do next.
She wasn’t at the
park. That was Amy’s
first guess. But she
We tried to
wasn’t at the pool,
think of more
either.
places to look,
but we could
only come up
with two.
It’s hard to
remember something
I have
important when
an idea.
you’re upset.
My doctor asked me to
keep track of how much I
walked every day, so I started
writing down all the places
I walked with Brada.
If Brada’s out
by herself,
she’ll probably
go someplace
familiar.
30
Why don’t you make a list
of all the places we went
recently and how often
we went there?
M
F
Sa
T
Su
W
Th
I’ll write down
They’re
where you went, and
we can count how many
neighbors. They
times you went to
have dogs too.
each place.
Who are
Dhruv and
Karen?
You could
I’ve never made a
make a bar
bar chart before.
chart. Then it
would be easy
to see where
she’s been
most often.
I’ll
show
you.
A bar chart
is a good idea,
Sam.
Then you put an
X above the name
of the place for
every time she’s
been there.
First, you put the
places where she’s
been at the bottom
of the page instead
of the top.
X
X
X
X
X
Dog Dhruv’s W
X
Park House T alking Karen’s
rail House
32
Last week, they
… and to Karen’s house
went to the
once and Dhruv’s house once
walking trail
and the dog park once.
three times . . .
They went to the
school yard once last
week too.
That’s a new
column.
X
X
X X
X X X X
X X X X
Dog Dhruv’s W
Park House Talking Karen’s rail House
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Dog Dhruv’s W
X
X
P
ark House Ta
X
lking Kar
X
en’s School
rail House Y
ard
33
That’s it, I think. I
was just going around
the block until two
weeks ago.
Sam, you were right
before. The chart makes it
easy to tell that Brada’s
been to the walking trail
most often. That column
of X’s is the tallest.
They went to five
That’s true,
different places!
but we want
Brada could be
to look where
at any of those!
> we think Brada
probably
went.
If you count up all the
X’s, Amy’s mom and Brada
. . . That’s more than
took 13 trips in all . . .
they went anywhere
else.
… and they
went to the
walking trail
5 times.
_ _ _ _ _
34
X
X X
X X X
X X X
X X
Dog Dhruv’s W
X
Park House Talking Kar
X
en’s School
rail House Y
2 3 5 2 1
13 13 13
ard
13 13
If Brada’s scared,
she’ll go someplace
she knows. So she’s
Let’s
most likely to be
hurry.
at the walking
trail.
I’ll drive
you there.
That’s a
I can drive too.
good idea.
Let’s take two
Amy’s mom
cars and search
can take some
Brada went there
in two different
of us to
on 3 of the 13 trips.
places.
Dhruv’s
So the chance she’d go
house.
back there is almost
as high.
35
You take
the notebook,
Thanks,
Amy.
Joy!
Here,
Brada!
Dr. Ghosh,
have you seen
my daughter’s
puppy?
Dhruv isn’t
Brada!
home from
his job yet. But if Brada had
come to visit, our
puppy would bark.
I haven’t heard a
peep from her.
BARK!
BARK!
36
Do you think she’s
trying to tell us she
I think she
knows where
just wants
Brada is?
us to come
inside and
play.
Meanwhile . . .
Brada!
Where
are
you?!
Amy, slow
down.
I don’t think
she’s here,
honey.
Sorry.
BRADA!
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I’ll call
youR mom.
Maybe they
found her.
Brada
must
be so
scared.
You said this
afternoon that
she’d explore the
whole neighborhood
if she could. Maybe
she doesn’t even
know she’s lost.
Maybe she thinks
she’s having an
adventure.
OK. We’ll
go to
Karen’s
house.
Your mom
I don’t think
didn’t find
she’s there.
her, either.
She’s going
to look at
the dog
park.
38
Don’t give up
We thought Brada would
hope, Amy. We’ll
be most likely to go to the
find her.
place she’d visited most
because she was scared.
That’s
not
what I
X
mean.
X
X X
X X X X
X X X X
X
Dog Dhruv’s Walking Karen’s School Park House Trail House Yard 2 3 5 2 1
13 13
_ _ _ _ _
13 13 13
She only went to
the school yard on
1 of the 13 trips, so
the chance of her
going back there
seemed the
X
lowest.
X
X
But Brada likes
X X
to explore. Maybe
X
she’d be most
X X
X
likely to go to the
X
Dog Dhruv’s W
X
place she’d been
Park House T
to the least.
X
alking Kar
_
X
_
en’s School
rail House Y
2 3 5 2 1
13 13 13
_ _
ard
13
13_
You guys go to the
Dog park. We’re
going to check the
school yard.
Brada?
Brada?
BARK?
Brada?
Brada!
40
You
silly
dog!
Hey!
Yep!
Is this
your
puppy?
Oh . . .
41
She was hanging
around the school yard
all day. We were just
about to take her home
with us.
If you hadn’t
She didn’t have a
played with
collar. We thought
her, she might
she was a stray.
have run off
and gotten
hurt.
Don’t you want
to say thank
you, Amy?
42
I’m
Michael.
Hi, I’m Amy.
What’s your
name?
This is Brada.
Thank you for
taking care of
her, Michael.
I can tell
You can
she likes
come to my
you.
house and
visit her if
you want.
43
Yep, she’s right
Yep, she’s right
here. We’ll see
here. We’ll see
you at Amy’s
you at Amy’s
house.
house.
I don’t get it. This
I don’t get it. This
morning we said if
morning we said if
something had happened
something had happened
most often in the past,
most often in the past,
it was most likely to
it was most likely to
happen again in the
happen again in the
future.
future.
But with Brada,
But with Brada,
we said the place
we said the place
she’d been to least
she’d been to least
often in the past was
often
often in the past was
the one she was most
the one she was most
likely to visit
likely to visit
again.
again.
Does that
Does that
mean the bar
/>
mean the bar
chart didn’t help
chart didn’t help
us find Brada?
us find Brada?
Would it have
Would it have
been better
been better
Knowing where
Knowing where
to guess?
to guess?
Brada had gone
Brada had gone
before did
before
before
help.
did help.
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Knowing
how
many times
she’d
been to
each place
helped
But we
too.
needed someone
who knew Brada
to tell us what
the numbers
meant.
It’s important to
calculate numbers
carefully, but it’s
just as important
to understand what
the numbers mean
once you have
them.
Having the bar
We got to Brada
chart helped us
just as someone else
make decisions
was about to drive
quickly. Otherwise,
away with her.
we might not have
found Brada
in time.
45
I have one more
I have some ice cream in
problem for all
the freezer. Do you think
of you.
it’s likely that everyone
will want dessert?
I think that’s
almost certain!
46
The authors
Melinda Thielbar is a teacher who has written math courses for all ages, from kids to adults. In 2005 Melinda was awarded a VIGRE fellowship at North Carolina State University for PhD candidates “likely to make a strong contribution to education in mathematics.” She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband, author and video game programmer Richard Dansky, and their two cats.
Lydia Barriman is a teacher, doctoral candidate, and writer of math courses for all ages.
The artists
Tintin Pantoja was born in Manila in the Philippines. She received a degree in Illustration and Cartooning from the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City and was nominated for the Friends of Lulu “Best Newcomer” award. She was also a finalist in Tokyopop’s Rising Stars of Manga 5.
Yali Lin was born in southern China and lived there for 11 years before moving to New York and graduating from SVA. She loves climbing trees, walking barefoot on grass, and chasing dragonflies. When not drawing, she teaches cartooning to teens.
Amy by BEcky
Becky Grutzik received a degree
in illustration from the University of
Wisconsin-Stevens Point. In her free
time, she and her husband, Matt
Wendt, teach a class to kids on how
to draw manga and superheroes.
Jenn Manley Lee was born in Clovis, New Mexico. After many travels, she settled in Portland, Oregon, where she works as a graphic designer. She keeps the home she shares with spouse Kip Manley and daughter Taran full of books, geeks, art, cats, and music.
Candice Chow studied animation at SVA and followed her interests through comics, manga, and graphic design. Her previous books include Macbeth (Wiley) with fellow SVA graduate Eve Grandt, who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.