Lena watched his pencil move. “The total area of the garden,” Marco continued, “is ( x^2 + 5x + 6 ). That’s not an abstract idea. That’s the dirt under your fingernails. That’s where you plant the tomatoes.”
“Here’s a garden,” he said. “The big square patch is x by x. The two little rectangular patches are 2x and 3x. And the tiny corner patch is 2 times 3, which is 6.” explain
“Oh,” she said. Her voice was quiet, almost reverent. “Oh, I see. It was a square all along. It just needed me to explain it to myself.” Lena watched his pencil move
He drew an equal sign and a blank square on the other side of the paper. ” Marco continued