“Can we always have math lessons like this?”
“This was so much fun!”
“I can’t wait to try it at home.”
“The little girls were so cute!”
Gleeful comments were heard and happy young ladies were “shopping” at Bais Yaakov’s sixth grade wing this week. Math class took on a new, tasty, and real-life dimension during the ratios unit.
On Tuesday, the grade baked brownies with various add-ins, rice crispy treats, banana muffins, and Congo bars, using recipes, selected measuring cups, and plenty of ingredients. The girls were challenged to use ratios to double recipes, make three-fourths, four-fifths, one and a half, or one and a quarter of a recipe. Other groups were challenged to use ratios making a recipe with limited sizes of measuring cups and spoons. The hallways smelled delicious!
On Wednesday, the sixth grade “sold” their baked goods to the fourth graders, and sampled their own baking and each other’s creations. Yum, Yum! They really did a good job. Teachers and administrators came to join with the girls and enjoy the baked goods.
Students’ comments in all the learning were:
“Ratios can be helpful in baking if you don’t have enough of an ingredient.”
– Leya Gruenbaum
“Our group used only ½ cups and ½ teaspoons. We used ratios to know how many ½ cups/spoons equaled the amount we needed.”
– Rochel Blumberg
“When we made carrot muffins, it was fun and we used math. We made ¾ of the recipe. This uses ratios because the recipe called for 2 cups of flour and we used 1½ cups. The ratio 1:¾ is equivalent to 2:1½.”
– Shaindy Tropper
“You use ratios to bake because certain ingredients like cocoa might need more sugar.”
– Malky Hershkowitz
“If you by mistake put in too much, you can use ratios to balance it out.”
– Shaindy Tropper