Where will I ever use mathematics in leisure or hobby experiences?
Where will I ever use mathematics in leisure or hobby experiences?
My personal hobby is cooking in the kitchen. Cooking provides the opportunity to learn and apply math skills. Cooking entails experimenting with different ingredients to make something delicious and tasty. Sensory facets of meals such as perception of appearance, taste, flavor, texture, and smell are of great importance. Kitchen math provides an opportunity to connect basic math operations to preparing, cooking, purchasing, and serving varied dishes. In our family, the recipe for cooking chocolate chip cookie calls for:
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 11/4 cups sugar
- 4 butter cubes
- 4 eggs
- 21/2 cups flour
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- 2 cups wheat flour
- ½ cup oat bran
- 4 cups chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups oatmeal
- 11/2 teaspoon soda
Bake at 340 degree for 12 minutes
Serves 4 people
If the recipe is cut in half, what amount of each ingredient will be required?
This problem requires scaling down or adjusting the ingredients in order to half the production. Furthermore, the recipe uses various conversation units such as a variety of measuring instruments and units like spoons and cups to measure and scale the ingredients for a particular recipe.
The mathematical problem such as this require the knowledge of fractions and ratios. A ratio is a comparison of two quantities of similar kind by division (Madhubun n.d). fractions are numerical symbols showing the relationship between the part and the whole. Ratios and fractions are important mathematical concepts to explore through cooking. Cooking involves simple math calculations such as determining a ratio of ingredients for preparing a snack, measuring and scaling ingredients, and deciding the quantities to produce. Measuring and scaling ingredients involve use of fractions such as ¼, ½, ¾ cups or tablespoons to double or half ingredient quantities (Baker, 2017). Knowing these measurements and their relationships can help in scaling recipe sizes. The problem also will require the knowledge of math operations such as multiplication and division (Schoenborn, 2013).
In the above recipe, the number of cups of wheat flour and chocolate chips needed can be calculated as follows:
Since the recipe is reduced by half, the quantities are multiplied by ½ or divided by 2
Thus 2 cups wheat flour/2 = 1 cup wheat flour
4 cups chocolate chips/2 = 2 cups
11/2 teaspoon soda/2 = ¾ teaspoon soda
Cooking through touching, grasping, and interacting with measuring tools have a positive impact on learning. It gives a learner a better understanding of that ¼ = 4 parts of a whole. This task requires the application of fractions and math operations to calculate the accurate ingredients based on fractions of the original amount. Math is a big part of cooking as it involves following a recipe, measuring ingredients, determining the ratios and proportions of various ingredients, and measuring cooking times. In cooking, accurate measurements and ratios are important for successful recipe. Recipes require specific quantities of ingredients and conversions between units (The NWT Literacy Council, 2009). Moreover, cooking provides the opportunity to learn about time. One can use digital or analogue clock to monitor baking time. These life-real scenarios connect to the mathematical concepts and ideas taught in class.
Reference
Baker, L. R. (2017). Using Math in Cooking. United States: Rosen Publishing.
Madhubun. (n.d). Maths Mate – 7 NEW. Vikas Publishing House.
Schoenborn, B. (2013). Math For Real Life For Dummies. Germany: Wiley.
The NWT Literacy Council. (2009). Kitchen Math: Everyday Math Skills. NWT Literacy Council
