Cooking Up Fractions Recipe

Cooking Up Fractions

Topic: A Mathematics Project for Middle School Students.

Purpose: In this lesson students will

Reinforce their multiplying and dividing fractions skills by increasing and decreasing the serving size in a recipe.

Practice using search engines. Searching for recipes on their own to increase and decrease the recipe size.(Make sure fractions are in the recipes they choose.) .

Materials: Computers with Internet access.

Procedure:

Look at the recipe for Jam Thumbprints

Re-write the entire recipe so it makes three times as many cookies.

Let's now re-write the directions to the recipe changing the numbers so the recipe makes sense.

You just found out there are not as many people coming over for dinner as you thought. Let's not waste food! Re-write the entire recipe so it serves 12.

Let's Search for a recipe from KRAFTFOODS

You are to search for a recipe called Blueberry Bubbleloaf in the Kraftfoods search engine.
Hint: When searching for this recipe, try Blueberry for a keyword.
Re-write the fractions to the Blueberry Bubbleloaf so it serves 4.

Now re-write the directions to the recipe changing the numbers so the recipe makes sense.

Your next great recipe to search in Kraftfoods will beTomato and Basil Pasta

Hint: For your keyword try Tomato. Watch out for several recipes in this category.
You are having guests over for dinner. Re-write the recipe so it serves 4.
Uh..Oh...You just recieved a phone call! More guests are coming over! Let's make sure you have enough food.

Re-write the Fresh Tomato and Basil Pasta so it serves 24.

For a real challenge - Use the search engine below to find your own recipe.

Find a recipe on the web that contains at least 3 fractions.

Re-write the recipe for half as many people.

Re-write the recipe for three times as many people as the original recipe.

Include the URL of the recipe you find.

Search Engine:

What is a Fraction? Definitions How to Multiply Fractions How to Divide Fractions

Return to Molly Silha's home page.
Send comments to: silha@girltech.cs.rice.edu

This page was developed through GirlTECH '97, a teacher training and student technology council program sponsored by the Center for Research on Parallel Computation (CRPC), a National Science Foundation-funded Science and Technology Center.
Thanks to the RGK Foundation for its generous support.
© June 1997 Molly Silha
http://teachertech.rice.edu/Participants/silha/
A special thanks to K. Herrmann for her version of Jam Thumbprints.