The world with Math 

    We are almost done with our math summer session, it went by so fast and was actually fun! I learned a lot of new techniques to use with math and also refreshed my mind on old math concepts. Math is such a crucial subject to learn in school and learning different ways to teach it effectively so students understand the underlying concept, not just the numbers is very important. We use math in everyday life situations, whether it is balancing our checkbook, baking some fresh chocolate chip cookies or finding out how much the temperature rose from the morning. It is crucial that we have a deep understanding of math concepts at a young age so our citizens have a chance at successful jobs and also can apply these concepts in every day life situations. Before we end our journey together, there is one more technique I want to show you that I find fascinating and so easy to use! It is the "Russian Peasant Multiplication". 

Russian Peasant

 The Russian Peasant Multiplication was a systematic method for multiplying two numbers that does not require a multiplication table. Lets look at an example; 85 X 18 

1.) First, we take 85 and divide by two until we remain at 1. We do not use remainders with this technique. 

2.) Then we take the 18 and multiply by two until we reach the number one as shown below. 

3.) Next, we take all the even numbers in the left column and cross them out along with their partner in the right column and cross them out. 

4.) Finally, we take all the numbers that are remaining in the right hand column and add them up. 

5.) You then have arrived at your answer! 85 X 18 = 1,530 

The wonders of formulas

           It is the week after July fourth and I am full of food and sweets. I love to bake sweets, it is one of my favorite hobbies. In the previous years I have had so much trouble baking sweets for our July party because I would get confused on how much ingredients were needed for a smaller batch than what was required. Now after taking this math course and learning the wonderful formula I can enjoy baking and knowing that my batch is going to turn out perfectly because there is no more guessing. 

Here is how it works! The formula is: Desired serving size    X  ingredient amount in recipe 

                                                              Recipe serving size 

Lets look at this batch of Cookies for an example: Makes 24 cookies. 

                                                

 

•       1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

 We only want to make 12 cookies, so for each ingredient we use the formula provided.

Desired serving size  X ingredient amount in recipe      Butter:  12  X 1 cup.  1  X 1 = 1/2 cup. butter
Recipe serving size                                                                       24                 2

Butter, sugar, and brown sugar= 1/2 cup.                            Salt: 12 X 1 or 1 x 1 = 1 cup. 

                                                                                                       24    2      2    2    4 

Eggs, vanilla and chocolate chips= 12 X 2= 1/2 X 2= 1cup. 

                                                         24

Flour= 12 X 3= 1 x 3= 3 or 1 1/2 cups. 

            24          2    1   2

Who has the most pizza? 

              Hello Everyone! It is the fifth week of math and it July 4th today!! This week we learned how to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions. Growing up, fractions were always difficult for me to understand and still to this day I have trouble comparing amounts to figure out which one is bigger. Today I am going to show you what helps me to understand when comparing amounts. 

            When trying to figure out what fraction is bigger compared to another I always find a common  denominator and then think of a pizza! Lets use these fractions and put them in descending order. 

  1/3, 1/6, 2/3, 1/12, 1/4

1.) First, we find a common denominator. We can see that the common denominator is 12 

2.) Then we convert each fraction into twelves. 1/3 becomes 4/12

3.) 1/6 becomes 2/12, 2/3 becomes 8/12, 1/12 stays the same, and 1/4 becomes 3/12

4.) We then have 4/12, 2/12, 8/12, 1/12, 3/12 

When we have converted all the fractions to the same denominator then we think of a pizza. Imagine a pizza with 12 slices. Would you rather have 1 slice out of the 12 or 8 slices out of the twelve. 

When we look at this picture we can now list the fractions in descending order, 

8/12, 4/12, 3/12, 2/12. 1/12

Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July!!!