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The Story of Zero

7th grade nonfiction passage about history of numbers: 241 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

7th grade nonfiction history of numbers 241 words

The Story of Zero

Zero seems so ordinary that it is hard to imagine numbers without it. Yet for much of history, people counted with no zero at all. Its story took thousands of years.

Early number systems had a problem. Without a way to show an empty place, the numbers 25 and 205 could look almost the same. More than two thousand years ago, scribes in Babylon began using a special mark to show that a column was empty. Far away, the Maya of Central America also invented a symbol for zero, drawn like a shell, and used it in their calendars.

The next step was bigger. In India, mathematicians began to treat zero as a number in its own right. Around the year 628, an Indian scholar named Brahmagupta wrote down rules for adding, subtracting, and multiplying with zero. His rules showed, for example, that adding zero to a number leaves it unchanged.

Scholars in the Arab world studied the Indian system and carried it west. In 1202, an Italian mathematician named Fibonacci wrote a book that explained the digits and the zero to European merchants. At first, many people distrusted the strange new symbol. Over time, they saw that it made arithmetic much easier than Roman numerals did.

Today zero is the foundation of place value, which lets us write any number with only ten digits. It is also part of the binary code that computers use, where every message is built from zeros and ones.

Questions

  1. Why was it a problem to have no way to show an empty place in a number? in the text

  2. Which two peoples in the passage invented a symbol for zero? in the text

  3. What did Brahmagupta do around the year 628? in the text

  4. What did Fibonacci's book do in 1202? in the text

  5. How is zero in India different from zero in Babylon? think about it

  6. Why did Europeans come to prefer the new number system over Roman numerals? think about it

Words to know

placeholder
a mark that holds an empty spot in a number
scribes
people whose job was to write and keep records
merchants
people who buy and sell goods
distrusted
did not feel sure about or believe in
foundation
the base that something else is built on
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 239 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.4

Zero seems so plain that it is hard to picture numbers without it. But for much of history, people counted with no zero at all. Its story took thousands of years.

Early number systems had a problem. They had no way to show an empty place. So 25 and 205 could look almost the same. More than two thousand years ago, scribes in Babylon began to use a special mark. It showed that a column was empty. Far away, the Maya of Central America made their own symbol for zero. It looked like a shell. They used it in their calendars.

The next step was bigger. In India, mathematicians began to treat zero as a number. Around the year 628, an Indian scholar named Brahmagupta wrote rules for adding, subtracting, and multiplying with zero. His rules showed that adding zero to a number leaves it the same.

Scholars in the Arab world studied the Indian system. They carried it west. In 1202, an Italian mathematician named Fibonacci wrote a book. It taught the digits and the zero to European merchants. At first, many people did not trust the odd new symbol. Over time, they saw that it made math much easier than Roman numerals did.

Today zero is the base of place value. It lets us write any number with only ten digits. It is also part of the binary code that computers use. Every message there is built from zeros and ones.

▲ This passage · 241 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.2

Zero seems so ordinary that it is hard to imagine numbers without it. Yet for much of history, people counted with no zero at all. Its story took thousands of years.

Early number systems had a problem. Without a way to show an empty place, the numbers 25 and 205 could look almost the same. More than two thousand years ago, scribes in Babylon began using a special mark to show that a column was empty. Far away, the Maya of Central America also invented a symbol for zero, drawn like a shell, and used it in their calendars.

The next step was bigger. In India, mathematicians began to treat zero as a number in its own right. Around the year 628, an Indian scholar named Brahmagupta wrote down rules for adding, subtracting, and multiplying with zero. His rules showed, for example, that adding zero to a number leaves it unchanged.

Scholars in the Arab world studied the Indian system and carried it west. In 1202, an Italian mathematician named Fibonacci wrote a book that explained the digits and the zero to European merchants. At first, many people distrusted the strange new symbol. Over time, they saw that it made arithmetic much easier than Roman numerals did.

Today zero is the foundation of place value, which lets us write any number with only ten digits. It is also part of the binary code that computers use, where every message is built from zeros and ones.

■ Harder · 271 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 12.6

Zero seems so ordinary and familiar that it is difficult to imagine numbers without it. Yet throughout much of human history, people counted and calculated with no zero whatsoever, and its remarkable story unfolded gradually over many thousands of years and across several continents.

Early number systems suffered from a serious weakness. With no means of indicating an empty place, the numbers 25 and 205 could look nearly identical. More than two thousand years ago, scribes in Babylon began to use a special mark to show that a column was empty. Far away, the Maya of Central America independently invented a symbol for zero, drawn in the shape of a shell, which they used in their elaborate calendars.

The next advance was far more significant. In India, mathematicians began to treat zero as a genuine number in its own right. Around the year 628, an Indian scholar named Brahmagupta recorded rules for adding, subtracting, and multiplying with zero, and his rules demonstrated, for example, that adding zero to any number leaves that number unchanged.

Scholars in the Arab world studied the Indian system and carried it westward. In 1202, an Italian mathematician named Fibonacci wrote a book that explained the digits and the zero to European merchants. Initially, many people distrusted the unfamiliar symbol, but over time they recognized that it made arithmetic far easier than Roman numerals ever had.

Today zero is the foundation of place value, which allows us to write any number, no matter how enormous, using only ten digits. It also forms part of the binary code that computers rely upon, in which every message is constructed from zeros and ones.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put placeholder, scribes, merchants, distrusted and foundation on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 2 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "The Story of Zero"?

It was written for 7th grade. It has 241 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 8.2. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 2 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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