STANDARDS

CCSS: 3.NBT.A.1; MP5, MP6, MP7

TEKS: 3.2C

ROUNDING WITH NUMBER LINES

Teeth-Cleaning Candy

Alina Morse wanted healthy lollipops—so she invented them!

October 2017

By Jeanette Ferrara

Michael Bezjian/WireImage/Getty Images

Alina Morse, age 12, and her dad, Tom Morse, with Zollipops

Courtesy Zollipops

On a trip to the bank with her father, 7-year-old Alina Morse was offered a free lollipop by a teller. But her dad wouldn’t let her take it because the sugar was bad for her teeth. “I love candy,” says Alina. “So I asked my dad, ‘Why can’t we make a sucker that’s good for your teeth?’” Then Alina did just that.

Five years later, the Detroit native has her own healthy-lollipop company, Zollipops. “My little sister came up with the name,” she says. Now Alina’s teeth-cleaning suckers are sold in major stores and online.

It took Alina about one year to make her original batch of Zollipops. She did a lot of research on alternative sweeteners, writing everything down as she went along. “If you want to make things happen, you need to write it down,” she says. Alina spoke to her dentist while searching for the perfect ingredients to help keep teeth healthy.

Courtesy Zollipops

Alina poses in front of a Zollipops display. The suckers can be bought online and at Whole Foods.

Alina eventually decided to use xylitol (ZEYE-luh-tahl) as a sweetener. Xylitol is a natural, sugarless sweetener found in many fruits and vegetables. It makes your saliva less acidic. This keeps your saliva from eating away at enamel—the hard, protective coating on your teeth. It also zaps the energy from the harmful bacteria in your mouth that cause cavities.

Once Alina perfected her recipe, she came up with packaging ideas. She presented her candy to buyers at various grocery stores.

"People sometimes underestimate me because I'm young. And they don't always believe me," she says. "It's not all their fault. Candy that's good for you is unbelievable!"

Alina is expanding her line of good-for-you candy with Zaffi Taffy. It will be the first-ever taffy that helps clean teeth, she says.

As for the distant future, Alina has high hopes. "I want to be president of the United States when I'm 40 years old."

MATH TALK:

What is rounding and how can it make numbers easier to work with?

Rounding With Number Lines

Short video explaining how to round using number lines.

Rounding with Number Lines

Now You Try It

1A.

Alina first came up with the idea for Zollipops when she was 7 years old. Now she is 12. The number 12 is between which two tens?

1B.

Draw a number line between the two tens in your answer to part A. Mark where 12 falls.

1C.

What is 12 rounded to the nearest ten?

Zollipops come in 6 flavors—cherry, grape, strawberry, pineapple, raspberry, and orange. What is that number rounded to the nearest ten? Show your answer on a number line.

3A.

A bag of 75 Zollipops costs $21. What is 21 rounded to the nearest ten?

3B.

A bag of 150 Zollipops costs $29. What is 29 rounded to the nearest ten?

3C.

Are your answers to parts A and B of this question the same? Why or why not?

4A.

It took Alina about 365 days to come up with the original formula for Zollipops. Using a number line, what is 365 rounded to the nearest ten?

4B.

Using a number line, what is 365 rounded to the nearest hundred?

4C.

How are your number lines for parts A and B different? Using a number line, what is 365 rounded to the nearest hundred?

Over 730 days, Alina developed a new Zollipops formula so the candies don’t get sticky in humid environments. What is this number rounded to the nearest hundred?