Lesson 6.13, two days, 20 slides. Day 1 is slides 1 to 10. Day 2 is slides 11 to 20.
DAY 1: Scaling and the Yield Check
Do now (Day 1)
- A recipe for 4 people needs 1 1/2 cups of sauce.
- How much sauce for 8 people?
- How much for 28 people? (Calculator allowed for this one.)
Teacher notes
Answers 3 cups and 10 1/2 cups. Take both from students.
The store does not sell 10 1/2 cups
- It sells jars.
- How many jars?
Teacher notes
Leave this on the board. Do not answer it. This is the whole lesson.
The three-step rule
- Divide the portions you need by the portions the recipe makes. That is the scale factor.
- Multiply every ingredient by the scale factor.
- Round up to the number of packages the store actually sells.
Teacher notes
Copy all three into the top of the worksheet.
The worked line
- A recipe makes 4 servings and needs 8 oz dry spaghetti. We need 28 portions.
- Step 1: 28 ÷ 4 = 7
- Step 2: 8 oz × 7 = 56 oz
- Step 3: 56 ÷ 16 oz per pound = 3.5 lb. The store sells 1 lb boxes. Buy 4.
Teacher notes
Say the reason out loud: always round up. Running out at minute 30 is the one mistake you cannot fix. An extra box costs $1.29.
Your turn, every line
- Find your recipe on page 1. It makes 4 servings.
- Fill the scaling table: ingredient, amount for 4, × the factor, scaled amount, the unit the store sells, packages to buy.
- Scale Lead reads each line aloud before anybody writes it.
Teacher notes
12 minutes. Circulate. Ask "what unit is that in, and what unit does the store use?"
Watch the units (the demo)
- 1 cup = 8 fluid ounces
- A recipe wants 3 cups. The store sells a 32 ounce box. Enough?
- 3 × 8 = 24 fl oz. The box holds 32. Yes, with 1 cup left.
Teacher notes
Image: a liquid measuring cup next to a 32 oz box of broth on a table.
Hold the real box and the real cup.
The trap
- 8 ounces on a bag of shredded cheese is a WEIGHT, not a volume.
- 4 ounces of shredded cheese is about 1 cup.
- So an 8 oz bag is about 2 cups, not 1.
Teacher notes
Image: an 8 oz bag of shredded cheese next to a dry measuring cup, with the cheese poured into two cups.
This is the error that shows up on cheese, sauce, and sour cream every single year. Say it with the bag in your hand.
The conversions this project needs
- 1 cup = 8 fluid ounces
- 1 pound = 16 ounces (weight)
- 1 stick of butter = 8 tablespoons = 1/2 cup
- 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons
- Shredded cheese: 4 oz is about 1 cup
- A 16 oz can of refried beans is about 1 3/4 cups
Teacher notes
The last four are estimates. [Sal: measure one package of each once and write the real number on the strip.]
The yield check
- We need 30 portions: 28 students, me, and one spare.
- Count what your plan actually makes.
- Example: 4 lb dry pasta at 2 oz per portion = 32 portions. Clears 30 with 2 spare.
- Under 30? Raise your hand and add a package.
Teacher notes
A plan that feeds 26 is not a cheaper plan. It is a failed plan.
Exit card (Day 1)
- "Our plan makes ___ portions, and the ingredient I am least sure we scaled right is ___."
- * *
DAY 2: Costing It From the Circular
Teacher notes
Sort into "clears 30" and "does not." Start Day 2 with the ones that do not.
Do now (Day 2)
- Circular at your seat. Find the cheapest shredded mozzarella.
- Write the brand, the size in ounces, and the price.
- Then write the price for ONE ounce.
Teacher notes
Put a store brand and a name brand on the board side by side with price per ounce under each.
Same cheese, different number
- Today every line on your sheet gets that number.
- And the total has to come in under twenty dollars.
The two questions to ask on every line
- What does the whole package cost? That is what you pay.
- What does one ounce cost? That is how you choose.
Teacher notes
The Unit 1 rule, still true: you pay for the whole package, not the spoonful you use.
The worked line
- Store brand shredded mozzarella, 8 oz, $1.99. $1.99 ÷ 8 = $0.249 per ounce
- Name brand, 8 oz, $2.99. $2.99 ÷ 8 = $0.374 per ounce
- The store brand is cheaper by 12.5 cents an ounce.
Cost every line
- Item, brand, size, price, price per ounce, packages, line cost.
- Write the running total after every line, not at the end.
- Cost Lead owns the total. A second teammate checks every line before it is written.
Teacher notes
13 minutes. At minute 24 call time; every station writes its total on the wall sheet.
The four totals
- Read them out loud.
- Any station over $20.00 has a problem to solve.
- The class total has to come in under $80.00.
The three legal swaps
- Store brand for name brand
- A bigger package, when the price per ounce drops AND you will use it
- Cut a line that is not on the plate (an optional topping, a second cheese)
- A swap only counts if it saves at least $0.25 and does not break the allergy list or your station card.
These are real swaps I actually made
- Name-brand cookies to store brand: saved $14.40
- Name-brand whipped topping to store brand: saved $6.00
- Butter, two packs down to one: saved $5.99
- Cups, two packs down to one: saved $3.99
- $30.38 saved on a $150 order. Final total: $147.84.
Teacher notes
Show the real shopping list. Students believe the teacher who actually did it.
Log every swap
- What we swapped out, what we swapped in, both unit prices, what it saved, what we gave up.
- Then recheck the allergy list. A swap can bring in a new allergen.
Peer check, then my signature
- Trade with the station next door. Check three things: every line has a size and a unit, the running total adds up, the total is at or under $20.00.
- Fix what they flag. Bring it to me.
- No signature, no shopping list in Lesson 6.15.
Teacher notes
Closure: two students read the class total and the cost per person. Then ask, and let it sit: "Could a family eat for that?"