Addition and Multiplication of Mixed Numbers and Improper Fractions with Doubling a Recipe

Butter Tart Recipe (based on my grandma's actual delicious family recipe!)

Here is a real-life example to help students practice adding and multiplying mixed numbers and improper fractions. When students ask, "When will we ever use this in real-life?!" you can show them this lesson and say that working with fractions is so common in baking.

This delicious activity will allow students to practice using fractions with a realistic everyday example: baking!

Students will take a recipe that has several fractions in it and double it. Half a cup of something becomes a cup and 3/4 of a cup becomes 1 and a half cups. After that, they need to figure out how much of each ingredient would be needed if the recipe was made five times bigger (perhaps in a bakery setting or for a large event). I encourage my students to use different strategies to complete this task: drawing pictures with squares, repeated addition, or multiplication. Boxes for diagrams and math calculations are included to encourage students to show their work. You could even have different students come up to show their personal strategies to the rest of the class.

As an extension, students can bring in their own recipes from home in the next class and double them or multiply them by five as well. You might even want to actually make something tasty to eat too!

Check out some of my other hands-on math activities. Search for my store: Grace Under Pressure

Whole Class Decimal Place Value Game: Tenths to Millionths

Math Representation: Percent, Ratio, Fractions, Decimals Posters (Culminating Activity)

Algebra: Modelling Equations: Visual Balance Scale Sheet

Geometry Project: Transformation Design Project with Rubric

Math Project: Circle Graphs and Pie Charts

A total of 5 pages in PDF:

Title Page

2 page assignment

2 page answer key