How to make math fun through storytelling: Chapter 3

How to make math fun through storytelling: The secret of the shadow pyramid

How to make math fun through storytelling: The math explorers cautiously stepped into a long hall, but something was off.The floor was covered in golden sand, and that moved in waves shifting unpredictably beneath their feet .The walls were lined with ancient measuring tools—rulers, scales, and hourglasses—glowing faintly with magical energy.

Chapter 3: The Shifting Sands of Measurement

Joey took a step forward, but the sand beneath him suddenly crumbled, nearly swallowing his foot.”Whoa! The ground isn’t stable, he gasped. Max pointed to an inscription on the wall.”Look ! A puzzle!Maybe it will help us cross.”

The inscription read: “To find the safe path, convert and compare:

• A rope is 2.5 meters long . How many centimeters is that?
• One stone weighs 3,000 grams. “How many kilograms is that?”

Ross grinned. “We just need to convert the units!”

“We know that 1 meter equals 100 centimeters.” Max said, writing on the sand with her finger .”So 2.5 meters is…”

2.5×100=250 cemtimeters.

“And for the weight ,”joey continued . “1 kilogram is 1000 grams.So we divide 3000 by 1000.”

3000÷1000=3 kilograms .

As soon as they said the answers aloud, the numbers curved into the walls began to glow . The sand shifted, revealing solid stepping stones that created a safe path forward .

“We did it!” Max cheered. “The numbers unlocked the way!”

One by one, the explorers carefully stepped onto the stones, making their way across the hallway.But as they reached the middle, another inscription appeared on a stone piller:

“To continue forward, solve these conversions:

• A river is 5 kilometers long.How many meters is that ?
• A bottle holds 2.5 liters of water. How many milliliters is that?
• A clock ticks every 15 minutes.How many ticks occur in 2 hours?

“We can do this !” said Ross, thinking quickly.

• 5 kilometers×1000=5000 meters.
• 2.5 liters×1000=2500 milliliters.
• 2 hours = 120 minutes.120÷15=8 ticks

Once they spoke the correct answers, the stepping stones ahead lit up, revealing the rest of the safe path .The shifting sand behind them swallowed the remaining unstable floor, making it impossible to turn back. “Looks like we solved it just in time,” Joey said with a relieved smile. “Let’s keep going !”

With their confidence growing, the team pressed forward, ready for the next challenge inside the shadow pyramid.

To be continued…

Stay tuned for Chapter 4: The room of ratios