Same-same or Different?

Roopa Pai

Mamma
put Sparrow's lunchbox into her schoolbag and folded her wings around
her.
"Have
a good day, darling," she said. "Pay attention, be
polite..."
"Uff
Mamma!" laughed Sparrow. "You say the same thing every
day!"

"And
remember," said Mamma. "Stay away from Snake - he's
different."
Sparrow
wished Mamma hadn't said that. Snake was her best friend. But Mamma
didn't approve of Snake.
"His
people eat our people!" she always said. "Sparrows and
snakes can never be friends."

On
the other side of town, Snake's Pappa was packing his lunchbox with birds' eggs.
"Today's special, son!" he said proudly.
"But
I hate eggs, Pappa," groaned Snake.

"We've
always eaten them in this family!" said Pappa sternly. "Now
off you go. And remember, stay away from Sparrow!"
Snake
slithered away, feeling angry.
"Sparrows are different,"
Pappa called after him. "You can't be friends with your food!"

When
Snake met Sparrow at school, they knew.
"Your
Mamma said...?" asked Snake.
Sparrow
nodded. "Your Pappa too?" Snake nodded.
"Our
parents are wrong, Sparrow," said Snake. "Let's show them
that we are more same-same than different."

"Great
idea!" said Sparrow. "Let's!"
She pulled out a sheet
of paper and drew two circles on it - like this.

"In the yellow part of the left circle," said Sparrow, "we put down 'Just Sparrow' things. In the blue part of the right circle, 'Just Snake' things. These are all ways in which Snake and Sparrow are DIFFERENT."
Snake was puzzled. "I thought we wanted to think of ways in which we are SAME!"
"That's what the green part in the middle is for," smiled Sparrow .

"First, let's think about how we look,"
said Sparrow. "Same-same or different?"
"VERY different," sighed Snake. "I'm
long, hairless and thin. You're small, plump and soft."
“You're right,"
said Sparrow. "I look like a powder puff," she drew a powder puff in the yellow crescent, "and you look like a rope-so-rough." She drew a rope in the blue crescent.

"Now," she said. "How do we move?"
"VERY differently," Snake said, looking even
sadder. "You fly through the air, flap-flapping. I slither along
the ground, zig-zagging."
"In other words," said Sparrow. "I
move like a plane, and you move like a train."

Snake sighed.
"Cheer up, Snake," said Sparrow briskly.
"Let's see now, what do we eat?"
"VERY different things," Snake's eyes
filled with tears. "But I don't eat birds' eggs."

"I know," said Sparrow soothingly. But
now she looked glum too.
"Seeds and grass," she muttered, as she
drew them in the yellow crescent.
"Frogs and rats," she
sputtered, and drew them in the blue crescent.

"Harrrrrumph!"
Snake
and Sparrow jumped. It was Headmaster Elephant.
"Why
the long faces, kids?" he asked kindly.
"Oh
sir," sobbed Snake. "My Pappa and Sparrow's Mamma say we
can't be friends because we are different."
"We
wanted to show them we were more same-same than different, sir,"
said Sparrow. "But it isn't working."
Headmaster
Elephant looked at the circles a long time. Then he began to laugh.
Snake
and Sparrow stared at him. What was so funny?
"Don't
you see, kids?" he said finally, wiping his tears. "You are
doing this all wrong! Let me help you."

Headmaster Elephant settled down on a bench.
"Now
then, Snake," he said, "what do you like doing best?"
"Playing and chatting, Sir," said Snake. "ESPECIALLY with Sparrow."

"And you, Sparrow?"
"Chatting and playing, Sir," said
Sparrow. "ESPECIALLY with Snake."
"Right,"
said Headmaster Elephant, "you like doing the SAME things."
And he drew something -
in the green part.
"Next," said Headmaster Elephant, "what makes you happy, kids?"
"When Miss lets me sit next to a friend, Sir," Snake began to smile.
"Same-same, Sir," clapped Sparrow.

“A-ha!" said
Headmaster Elephant. "You both have the SAME happy place. Green!"
"All right, what
makes you sad, Snake and Sparrow?"
"That Pappa says I should stay away from
Sparrow, sir," sighed Snake.
"That Mamma says I should stay away from
Snake, sir," sighed Sparrow.
Headmaster Elephant
frowned. "You are both sad," he said, "for the SAME
reason - your parents don't let you choose your friends. Green again!"

"Now then," said Headmaster Elephant,
"who do you think is the best kind of friend?"
"Someone who loves you..." began Snake.
"... even though you are different!"
finished Sparrow.
"So you both agree,” said Headmaster
Elephant, "that a true friend loves you no matter what. That makes FOUR 'same-sames' and only THREE 'differents'. Same-sames win!"

"Hurray!" said Snake and Sparrow. "Thank you, Headmaster Elephant!"
"Harrrumph!"
said Headmaster Elephant. "One last thing..."
"Yes,
sir?"
"Tell
your parents I want to see them in my office. First thing tomorrow
morning!"
And
Headmaster Elephant marched away, looking very fierce indeed.

SORT
IT OUT!
Sorting
and grouping are important skills in mathematics. To sort things, you
have to ask yourself 'logic' questions like:
1.
What things are same? What things are different?
2.
How are the same things same? How are different things different?
3.
Can the same things be sorted and grouped in more than one way?

Think
about the many ways in which you can sort and group these toy
animals. You can sort them:
- According
to their colour - blue animals in one circle, yellow in another.
- According
to their size - small animals in one circle, big ones in another.
- According
to how they move - animals that walk and animals that fly.
Would
the groups be different each time? Try it and see!