Resources for Families
Unit 1: Ratios and Proportional Reasoning
Ratios are an important part of daily life whether we recognize we are using ratios and proportional reasoning or not. We use ratios when we are buying groceries ($3 per pound; $5 for two boxes), driving a car (25 mph; $2.95 per gallon) and making dinner (3 min per side; 2 tsp for every quart). We also use ratios when make major decisions like purchasing a car (cost per month; interest rate of loan) and whether our job will cover our cost of living (hourly rate or pay per year).
You can help support student learning at home in simple ways. Here are some suggestions:
1. When purchasing groceries or other items, comparison shop. Look at different brands and sizes and try to find the best deal (ex. least cost per ounce). Also, ask your child things like, if I buy three of these that cost $1.79, how much will it cost? Your child can even use a small calculator to help determine the costs. Applying this skill in normal every day situations helps to reinforce the concept and makes it more likely your child will remember it in the future.
2. Calculate the fuel efficiency of your car by having your child take the number of miles driven since the last time you gassed up the car and divide it by the number of gallons it takes you to fill your gas tank. You can even turn it into an experiment over time by changing driving habits and seeing how the ratio is effected (such as not leaving the car idling in a parking space, accelerating gradually from a stop, etc.).
3. Have your child calculate the tip when you go out to eat. If your bill is $28.96, first simplify by rounding the cost to $29.00 or $30.00. Then figure out 10% of the bill first by dividing by 10 (this just means move the decimal one place to the left). 29.00/10=2.90. Finally if you want to know what 20% would be, double the answer (since 20 is double 10). 2.90 times 2= 5.80.
4. Ask your child questions while cooking about changing the size of the recipe to feed more or less people. For instance, if the recipe calls for 3 Tbsp of oil, how much oil would I use if I wanted to make half the amount of food? To feed twice as many people?
5. Set personal goals for your family and keep it posted somewhere in the house. These could be simple health and fitness goals (like exercise 15 min. per day, weight loss per week, number of veggies eaten a day) or more complicated ratios such as spending twice the amount of time doing an activity together as a family than time spent doing individual activities such as playing a video game or chatting online.
You can help support student learning at home in simple ways. Here are some suggestions:
1. When purchasing groceries or other items, comparison shop. Look at different brands and sizes and try to find the best deal (ex. least cost per ounce). Also, ask your child things like, if I buy three of these that cost $1.79, how much will it cost? Your child can even use a small calculator to help determine the costs. Applying this skill in normal every day situations helps to reinforce the concept and makes it more likely your child will remember it in the future.
2. Calculate the fuel efficiency of your car by having your child take the number of miles driven since the last time you gassed up the car and divide it by the number of gallons it takes you to fill your gas tank. You can even turn it into an experiment over time by changing driving habits and seeing how the ratio is effected (such as not leaving the car idling in a parking space, accelerating gradually from a stop, etc.).
3. Have your child calculate the tip when you go out to eat. If your bill is $28.96, first simplify by rounding the cost to $29.00 or $30.00. Then figure out 10% of the bill first by dividing by 10 (this just means move the decimal one place to the left). 29.00/10=2.90. Finally if you want to know what 20% would be, double the answer (since 20 is double 10). 2.90 times 2= 5.80.
4. Ask your child questions while cooking about changing the size of the recipe to feed more or less people. For instance, if the recipe calls for 3 Tbsp of oil, how much oil would I use if I wanted to make half the amount of food? To feed twice as many people?
5. Set personal goals for your family and keep it posted somewhere in the house. These could be simple health and fitness goals (like exercise 15 min. per day, weight loss per week, number of veggies eaten a day) or more complicated ratios such as spending twice the amount of time doing an activity together as a family than time spent doing individual activities such as playing a video game or chatting online.