The Case of Veronica Variable

Picture: After years of slumming in police departments and the FBI, you have finally made it. You are famous; respected around the world for being the best of the best. You are known as secret agent “Mathie”, able to solve any crime that comes your way. As soon as your pager (disguised as a pencil) beeps, you punch in the secret code and what you hear is this:

Mathie… this just in… Veronica Variable, the stunning, world-known, very famous movie star is MISSING!! All that was left of her is her red lipstick and a ransom note. It reads, “We want on hundred billion dollars or the chick is toast. We’ll be in touch.” Get on the case right away… over and out.

Your Job Begins!

q To begin, you must figure out who is holding her hostage. Is it the murderous multipliers? The subhuman subtractors? (Choose your equation and figure out who is trapping the variable) SEE EQUATION BANK PROVIDED BY YOUR TEACHER!

q Once you have your criminal, your must use your secret agent intelligence and decide how to break the code. You know from experience that you must do the opposite of everything that the criminals are attempting. (Go through the steps of solving the equation and be sure to include every step in your story!)

q After you break the code, it’s a piece of cake to free Veronica Variable. After all, you are the world famous Mathie!

You Did It!

However, your job does not end here. You see the press has been hounding you as usual. You are sick of watching reporters dig through your garbage, looking for any clues that would let them in on how you solved the crime. You make a decision: it’s time to write your memoirs of the Case of Veronica Variable.

q Write a 5 paragraph essay on how you solved the case.

q Think of a title for your memoirs.

q You need to have an attention getter in your introduction. It should be something that really pulls the reader in and will make them want to continue reading.

q You can change the agent’s name and create names for the kidnappers. Creativity counts, so come up with a theme for your characters’ names.

q Use the planner to help you get started.