DIGITAL FINAL PROOF

Math Concept Reader

The Thirst
Quencher
AYVN

Howard

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Math Concept Reader

The Thirst Quencher

by Sarah Mastrianni
Photographs by Gregg Anderson

AYVN

Howard

Copyright © Gareth Stevens, Inc. All rights reserved.

Developed for Harcourt, Inc., by Gareth Stevens, Inc. This edition published by Harcourt, Inc., by
agreement with Gareth Stevens, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
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Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Permissions
Department, Gareth Stevens, Inc., 330 West Olive Street, Suite 100, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212.
Fax: 414-332-3567.

HARCOURT and the Harcourt Logo are trademarks of Harcourt, Inc., registered in the United States
of America and/or other jurisdictions.

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 13: 978-0-15-360190-3

ISBN 10: 0-15-360190-6

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 179 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07

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1:
R
CHAPT

E
Howard
the Vending
Machine Man

Howard works for All Your Vending Needs (AYVN) Vending

Company. The company has been in business for more than 15
years and provides bottled water and juice to their customers.
Their customers include hundreds of companies and schools.
The company prides itself on quality, price, and service.
Howard is in charge of a group of drivers who fill the
vending machines for customers. Howard believes that meeting
the needs of his customers is very important. If his drivers
keep their customers happy, that means AYVN will get more
business. Howard not only manages a group of drivers, but he
drives for the company, too! Filling the vending machines lets
Howard visit and speak with his customers on a regular basis.

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g
an Howard and the other drivers will stock vending machines with drinks.

Each day, the drivers have stops to make on a set route to

service and fill the vending machines. Howard plans the stops
for all the drivers. He must be sure that the other drivers know
where they are going before he leaves for his own route. He
also wants to be sure they know what they are delivering. He
reviews customer orders for refills.
Today there are 29 stops on the schedule. The drivers will
stock vending machines with more drinks and collect payments
from each customer. There are seven drivers today, counting
Howard. Howard grabs a pen and a sheet of paper and gets
ready to plan the delivery route for each driver.

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Howard hands the driver a list for his route.

Howard wants to make sure each of his drivers has an

equal amount of work, so he divides the 29 stops by the seven
drivers. He figures out that each driver, including himself, must
make four stops. Each stop typically includes several vending
machines that need to be refilled with drinks. Howard thinks.
There are 29 stops to divide among seven drivers, but that
leaves one extra stop, which Howard decides to take himself.
29 ÷ 7 = 4 r1; 4 routes for each driver, with one extra stop
for Howard.
Howard hands the drivers a list for each machine on their
stops. The drivers review their lists and load their trucks.

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HOPE
MIDDLE
Stop 3
SCHOOL

CAPETOWN Stop 2
Stop 4 ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL FREDERICK
ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL

Stop 1

Rte. 75
Stop 5
CLEVER
JOHNSTON ELEMENTARY
HIGH SCHOOL
SCHOOL

Howard reviews orders for the customers on his stops. He

will fill vending machines with juice and water. It’s important
that he make sure to bring enough drinks to fill each order.
Today, the vending machines he will fill are located at five
local schools. Howard plans his driving route carefully. He
does not want to lose time driving around in his truck looking
for the schools, so he maps out his stops. This helps save gas,
too. Now Howard is ready to load his truck and will soon be on
his way.
Howard checks in with his drivers one more time. When he
is sure that everyone is prepared for their routes, he sets off for
Clever Elementary School.

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2:
R
CHAPT

E
Juice for
Clever
Students

Clever Elementary School just purchased a new juice

machine for the cafeteria. A driver from Howard’s company
delivered the vending machine yesterday and now it needs to be
filled with drinks.
Howard has worked for AYVN for more than ten years so he
knows that different models of vending machines hold different
numbers of drinks. The number of drinks depends on the layers
in the machine. He looks at the list to find out which model the
driver delivered to the school yesterday.
The machine that Clever Elementary School purchased holds
480 bottles. There are 8 layers in the machine and each layer
holds 60 bottles.
480 ÷ 8 = 60; 60 bottles for each layer in the machine.

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Howard brings cases of drinks to fill the machine.

Howard wants to bring enough juice from his truck into the
school so that he will only have to make one trip. He knows
he needs 480 bottles of juice to fill the machine. The bottles of
juice are packaged in cases and each case contains 24 bottles
of juice. Howard needs to figure out how many cases of 24
bottles equals 480 bottles. That way, Howard will bring just the
right number of cases into the school to fill the machine.
Howard uses mental math to figure out that 20 cases of 24
bottles are 480 bottles in all.
20 x 24 = 480; 480 bottles in 20 cases.
He loads his dolly with 20 cases of juice.

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The office worker thanks Howard for filling the vending machine.

Once Howard finishes filling the machine, he heads to

the main office and gives the office worker the bill. The office
worker thanks Howard for coming to the school. He says that the
students are excited about the juice machine.
The timing of Howard’s delivery could not be better because
many of the students are participating in a two-mile walk after
school. On a warm day like today, the students will surely head
to the juice machine after the walk! Howard says he is glad the
timing of the delivery is so good. He will call in a few days and
promises to be back when the machine needs more juice.

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Howard, the Thirst Quencher, continues his deliveries.

Two students stop Howard before he leaves the building.

They tell Howard that they saw him in the cafeteria earlier
and thank him for filling up the new juice machine. They tell
Howard that they are looking forward to having cold drinks
each day. They appreciate the hard work Howard does for the
students.
The students tell Howard they have a nickname for him.
They call him the “Thirst Quencher!” Howard laughs at the
name. He never thought of himself as the man who satisfied
students’ thirst, but now he does. Howard smiles as he waves
goodbye. He likes to know that his job makes people happy.
He cannot wait to tell his crew about his new name.

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3:
R
CHAPT

E
Keeping
Customers
Happy

Frederick Elementary School is just a few minutes away from

Clever Elementary. When he arrives at the school, Howard
looks at his notes. The three vending machines at Frederick
Elementary School hold a total of 1,296 bottles of water and
Howard knows they each hold the same number of bottles.
He will take the maximum number of bottles that he might
need in case all three machines are empty. This time, he
will have to make three trips. On his first trip, he will fill the
vending machine in the gymnasium lobby. On his second trip,
he will fill the vending machine in the teachers’ workroom. On
Howard’s third trip, he will fill the machine in the cafeteria.

10

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 (OWARDOPENSTHEBACKOFHISTRUCK"OTTLESOFWATERARE
STACKEDUPINSIDE(OWARDNEEDSBOTTLESOFWATERFORTHE
THREEVENDINGMACHINES(EMUSTlGUREOUTHOWMANYBOTTLES
OFWATERHENEEDSFOREACHLOCATIONSOHEDIVIDESBY
4HISWILLTELLHIMHOWMANYBOTTLESOFWATERHENEEDSTOTAKETO
THEGYMNASIUMLOBBY(OWARDSDIVISIONSKILLSOFTENCOMEIN
HANDYINHISJOB

•BOTTLESOFWATERTOTAKETOTHE
GYMNASIUMLOBBY
(OWARDWILLNEEDBOTTLESFOREACHOFTHEMACHINESIN
THETEACHERSWORKROOMANDCAFETERIATOO(OWARDTAKESTHE
DOLLYANDBEGINSTOLOADITUPWITHTHEWATERBOTTLES

TEACHERS’
GYMNASIUM CAFETERIA WORKROOM
432 432 432

1,296 bottles ÷ 3 machines = 432 bottles of water

There are 432 bottles per machine
&&
 DIGITAL FINAL PROOF

Howard begins filling the machine in the gymnasium lobby.

Just as he is getting started, three students walk up to Howard.
One of them asks him if there are any cold bottles of water left
in the machine.
Howard looks at the students. They are dressed in sports
jerseys. He guesses from their uniforms that they have been
playing volleyball in the gymnasium. They look as if they have
been playing hard and they sound like they are
out of breath. Howard guesses they are pretty
thirsty! He asks them how many students are in
the gymnasium. They tell Howard that there
are 12 volleyball players on the team and they
are all practicing for their upcoming game.

A volleyball player
takes a break to
get water from the
vending machine.

12

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There are 13 water bottles left in the machine before Howard fills it.

Howard looks at the machine and sees 13 bottles of water

remaining from the last time it was filled. He takes the water
out for the thirsty students. Howard likes to keep his customers
happy. He collects the money for 12 bottles, but pays for the
extra bottle of water himself. He makes a note of the sale and
will be sure the school is given the money. The students figure
out they must each carry four bottles back to the gym.
12 ÷ 3 = 4; 4 bottles for each student to carry back to the
gym.
They each pick up their four bottles. They notice there is
one bottle of water left on the floor.

13

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The players look confused. There are only 12 team members.

Who is the extra bottle of water for? Howard tells them he
bought the extra bottle of water because he thinks there is a
coach who might be thirsty, too. The girls nod their heads in
agreement. They do the division again.
13 ÷ 3 = 4 r1; 4 bottles for each
student to carry back to the gym and 1
extra bottle for the coach.
Now they understand why there is
an extra bottle of water. One student
reaches down for it. She has to be careful
so she doesn’t drop her bottles of water.
The girls thank Howard and then head
back to the gym with the water.

This player carries

four water bottles
plus one more for
14 the coach.

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 DIGITAL FINAL PROOF

Howard uses math at work every day.

As the students turn, they see their coach, who smiles and
waves at Howard. The teammates agree that it was nice of
Howard to buy the extra bottle for the coach.
Howard smiles on his way back to the truck. He enjoys his
job. It requires so many different skills. He almost always uses
math in his head or on his notepad. He gets to interact with all
sorts of people, and he’s never thirsty! He especially likes to
meet the students at the schools he services.
Howard has three more stops to make after Frederick
Elementary School. He is excited to see what is next for the
“Thirst Quencher.” Howard laughs aloud as he loads his dolly
again.

15

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Glossary

dolly a cart with small wheels for moving loads

that are too heavy to be carried by hand

layer a single thickness that makes one part of

a larger collection

quench to satisfy; when you’re hot, a cold

drink will quench your thirst

refill a replacement for something that has

been used up

route a specific number of stops that a worker

regularly visits while doing the job

16

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