Catherine Called Birdy

Author: Karen Cushman

Publisher/Date: Harper Trophy, 1994

ISBN: 0064405842

Grade Levels Recommended for Use: 6-12

Brief Summary: The 13-year old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal where she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off.

Topics: 2-D shapes; length; metric system conversion; Fibonacci sequence

Suggested Activities:

Where does the square go?
Birdy hates the embroidery that Morwenna makes her do. She can use this trick to try to win some time away from her sewing so that she can play with Perkin the goat boy. Students will examine a variety of shapes cut from one square and then rearrange them to form a square with a square hole in the center.

Corner to Corner
Morwenna is always making Birdy cut parchment and fabric for sewing. Birdy can use this plan to cut these things. Students will attempt to figure the length of a rectangular part of a circular shape.

A Metric World
The supplies Birdy's mother sends to her brother Edward's abbey are given in English measurements. Students will first learn how this is inaccurate according to today's form of measurement in England and then learn how to convert them to metric standards. Students will convert measurements from the English system to the metric system and from the metric system to the English system. They will also think about many quantities that are measured in daily life.

Numbers in Nature: Creating the Fibonacci Spiral
Developed by Fibonacci in 1202, this sequence was studied by the boys who were educated in Birdy's time. Students will understand what the Fibonacci sequence is and how it expressed in nature.

Activities taken from Paul Curry, 2001