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Ms. Lounsbury, Math, 6th

Posts

Week of September 3rd

Dear Family,
Many of us have a number of recipes 
that we enjoy preparing. Perhaps 
they are old family recipes or simply 
someone's favorite meal. Some recipes 
we can prepare without much effort: 
a quarter cup of butter, a quarter cup 
of flour, and two cups of milk for a 
white sauce.
However, when we have guests over for 
dinner, we find these familiar recipes 
have to be adjusted. Maybe we have to make three times as many servings. 
Now we need three quarter cups of butter, three quarter cups of flour, and 
so on.
Sometimes we want to make a smaller portion, such as when part of the family 
is away. Now we find ourselves using half a quarter cup of butter, half a 
quarter cup of flour, and so on.
You and your student can discuss strategies for preparing a meal when you 
have to change the recipe. For example, you might ask your student:
 “We have to use two quarter cups of sugar. Should we use the 1/4 cup 
measure twice, or use the 1/2 cup measure?” Your student may answer, 
“The amount will be the same either way.”
 “The recipe calls for 2/3 cup of milk, but we only want a half batch. 
What measuring cup should we use?” Your student may answer, “Use the 
1/3 cup measure, but only once.”
 “Grandma's brownie muffin recipe makes enough for three dozen 
muffins, but we only want one dozen. What should we do?” Your student 
may answer, “We can divide the recipe measures by three.”
Sometimes you have to make a judgment call. How do you cut the recipe in half, 
if it calls for three eggs? Talk with your student about different strategies 
for changing a recipe like this.
Enjoy your cooking time together
 
Mrs. Lounsbury 

Week of August 19th

Hello!
 
I hope your weekend was well! This week, students will be learning about prime factorization of numbers. They will also be learning about finding the GCF (Greatest Common Factor) and LCM (Least Common Multiple). Here is a video discussing the method we will use for Prime Factorization. 
 
 
Mrs. Lounsbury 

Week of August 12th

Dear Family,
When you shop at the grocery store, and you place your items on the checkout 
stand, you usually don’t ask, “Does it matter if the price of milk is added before 
the price of bread?” This is because you know that the order you add the items 
doesn’t matter—but you may not realize you are using one of the mathematical 
properties of addition!
You and your student can have fun relating the day-to-day mathematics you use to 
other number properties. For example, you can ask your student:
 “Does it matter if the cashier adds three cans of peas one at a time or 
multiplies the price of one can by three?” Your student may answer, “The total 
is the same either way.”
 “If you take three apples from the display and put two back, is that the same 
as taking two apples from the display and putting three back? How does that 
make subtraction different?” Your student may answer, “Order does matter 
with subtraction. You can’t put back more than you took originally!”
 “Does it matter if you multiply the price of an item you buy by the quantity or 
if you multiply the quantity by the price?” Your student may answer, “The 
total price is the same either way. Order doesn’t matter when you multiply.”
 “Does order matter with division? If you divide the price of a pack of pudding 
cups by the number of pudding cups will you get the same answer if you divide 
the number of pudding cups by the price?” Your student may answer, “No, the 
answers are different, so order does matter with division.”
Your student will be studying concepts like these in math class. See if you and your 
student can find other examples of mathematical properties or formulas in your 
day-to-day life.
Happy Shopping
 
Mrs. Lounsbury