Multiplicative Relationships: Fostering Students’ Understanding of Ratios

Jennifer R. Burlew

Synopsis

This unit was designed to offer an introduction to ratios for students before starting a formal unit and a summative project to end the unit. Through the introduction activities students are given opportunities to think about situations and begin to realize that comparing two quantities can be thought of as a ratio and how those relationships can be communicated. Students think about ratios in situations and see if they can determine equivalent situations. Students work in groups, partners and have whole class discussions to support their ideas about ratios. The final activity is designed to be completed at home and shared in school, students are asked to scale up and down a recipe of their picking and to display their recipe and work to find the correct amount for each ingredient of the recipe. This unit was designed to be used in a sixth grade classroom.