Sixth Grade: Ratios and Proportions

Double Dessert!  

What better way to get kids excited about ratios and proportions than dessert? 

Invite your sixth grader to find a baking recipe from your recipe box, a favorite cookbook, or online. Then challenge them to adapt the recipe to increase or decrease the number of servings it creates. For example, if the recipe makes 6 servings, increase it to 18 servings. If your favorite recipe doesn’t have serving numbers specified, they can double, triple, halve, or quarter the recipe. This involves using ratios to calculate proportional increases or decreases of the ingredient measurements. For example, if they are increasing the number of servings from 6 to 18, they are tripling the recipe, and need to multiply all of the measurements by three. 

Tying abstract math concepts to real, tangible tasks is a helpful way to strengthen your child’s math skills. Not only do they practice what they are learning in the classroom, but they also see math’s real-world applications, which makes them more motivated to learn. 

And if you want to take this exercise to the next level, challenge your sixth grader to make the recipe they have adapted as a way to “check their work.” If they did the math correctly, it should taste delicious!