In your journal, you chose a healthy recipe. Then you made a plan to scale it up to cook for a large party. You found how many servings the original recipe made. Then you accounted for the number of guests. You multiplied the original measurements to find the amount of each ingredient you’ll need to make one serving for each guest. This involved multiplying fractions.

Question

In your post, describe your cooking plans to your peers. Explain how you multiplied fractions to solve the problem:

Describe the healthy recipe you chose.
List the measurement of each ingredient in the original recipe and how many people it serves. List the number of people invited to your party.
Explain how you calculated the amount of each ingredient you’ll need to prepare enough servings for all of your guests.
State the amount of each ingredient you’ll need to cook for your party.
Describe other ways you use fractions to benefit your health in real life. For instance, do you use them for structuring an exercise routine or scheduling daily activities? Name a situation that might require you to multiply fractions or mixed numbers. Specify whether you would be multiplying a fraction or mixed number by an integer or multiplying two fractions or mixed numbers together.
Next, read two of your peers’ cooking plans and respond to them.

Suggest a healthy ingredient swap or addition to each recipe. Include a suggested fractional measurement. (For instance, you might add 1/2 cup of blueberries to a recipe for pancakes.)
Calculate how much of this ingredient your peer will need to cook for their party.
Respond to the other ways your peer uses fractions to make healthy lifestyle choices. Give an example of fractions being multiplied for one of these activities. Use realistic numbers and explain what your mathematical statement represents in the real world.
Post a detailed response to the Multiply Fractions to Solve Problems Discussion prompt. Then respond to two classmates' posts.

Participate in the discussion to learn more about multiplying fractions to solve problems.

Answer 1

Title: Multiplying Fractions to Scale Up a Healthy Recipe

Description of the Healthy Recipe:
For this cooking plan, I have chosen a healthy recipe for Quinoa Salad. The original recipe serves 4 people.

Measurement of Each Ingredient in the Original Recipe and the Number of Servings:
1 cup of cooked quinoa (serves 4)
1/4 cup of diced red bell pepper (serves 4)
1/4 cup of diced cucumber (serves 4)
1/4 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved (serves 4)
1/4 cup of chopped parsley (serves 4)
2 tablespoons of olive oil (serves 4)
2 tablespoons of lemon juice (serves 4)
Salt and pepper to taste (serves 4)

Number of People Invited to the Party:
I have invited 20 people to the party.

Calculating the Amount of Each Ingredient Needed:
To calculate the amount of each ingredient needed, I will multiply the original measurements by 20 (the number of guests) divided by 4 (the number of servings in the original recipe). This will give me the amount of each ingredient needed per serving for each guest.

Amount of Each Ingredient Needed for the Party:
1 cup of cooked quinoa (1 serving from the original recipe) x (20 guests / 4 servings) = 5 cups of cooked quinoa
1/4 cup of diced red bell pepper (1 serving from the original recipe) x (20 guests / 4 servings) = 1 1/4 cups of diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup of diced cucumber (1 serving from the original recipe) x (20 guests / 4 servings) = 1 1/4 cups of diced cucumber
1/4 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved (1 serving from the original recipe) x (20 guests / 4 servings) = 1 1/4 cups of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup of chopped parsley (1 serving from the original recipe) x (20 guests / 4 servings) = 1 1/4 cups of chopped parsley
2 tablespoons of olive oil (1 serving from the original recipe) x (20 guests / 4 servings) = 10 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of lemon juice (1 serving from the original recipe) x (20 guests / 4 servings) = 10 tablespoons of lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste can remain the same as it doesn't change with the number of guests.

Other Ways I Use Fractions to Benefit My Health:
In addition to cooking, I also use fractions to structure my exercise routine. For instance, when planning my workout routine, I divide my available time into equal intervals to perform different exercises. If I have 1 hour for exercise, I might allocate 1/4 of the time for cardio, 1/4 for strength training, 1/4 for stretching, and 1/4 for rest.

Situation Requiring Multiplying Fractions or Mixed Numbers:
A situation that might require multiplying fractions or mixed numbers is when calculating the nutritional composition of a meal. For example, if a meal consists of 1 1/2 cups of cooked quinoa, which provides 5 grams of protein per cup, I would multiply 1 1/2 (mixed number) by 5 (grams of protein per cup) to find the total amount of protein in the meal. In this case, the mathematical statement would be: 1 1/2 x 5 = 7.5 grams of protein.

Response to Peer #1 - Recipe Swap or Addition:
For your Quinoa Salad recipe, a healthy ingredient addition could be 1/2 cup of pomegranate seeds. They not only add a burst of flavor but also provide additional antioxidants.

To cook for your party of 30 guests, you would need:
1/2 cup of pomegranate seeds (1 serving from the original recipe) x (30 guests / 4 servings) = 3 3/4 cups of pomegranate seeds

Response to Peer #2 - Other Uses of Fractions:
It's great to see how you use fractions to schedule your daily activities. Another activity that requires multiplying fractions is calculating the calorie intake from macronutrients. For instance, if you know that proteins provide 4 calories per gram and your meal contains 30 grams of protein, you could multiply 4 (calories per gram) by 30 (grams of protein) to find the total calorie count from proteins. The mathematical statement would be: 4 x 30 = 120 calories.

Overall, it's impressive to see how fractions play a role in our daily lives, not just in cooking but also in exercise routines, meal planning, and nutritional analysis.