Additional Problem-Based Lessons

This lesson is focused on finding ratios and sorting materials to collect and gather quantitative data. Students will use M&Ms to find equivalent ratios between the different colors of M&Ms that the students have. This lesson has students use tape diagrams during the activity, which would be a great additional model to use with the bar model and ratio table from my lessons. Before starting the M&M activity, the students will start by sorting cashews and walnuts that are mixed in a bag. Students will then have to find the ratio of walnuts to cashews. This is a good review for students of the previous lessons that focused on ratios and comparing two quantities. Each student will get a bag of 100 M&Ms to sort by color. Students will then fill out a data collection table that will record the number of M&Ms for each color and the ratio of each color to the total amount of M&Ms. Then students will have the chance to eat some of the M&Ms then record the data again. This step is repeated twice. The lesson is engaging and interactive for students, and of course exciting since students get to eat the M&Ms. Then students will make a tape diagram to illustrate their results. For high-flyers, students can compare multiple colors and do 3 or more number ratios.

This activity is focused on using coins and the result of a heads or tails, to create ratios. Students will need 10 coins that have a head and tail, so even the fake money coins in the class would work. Students will also need a notebook and pencil to record their results from the coin tosses. The teacher can also make a data collection table if preferred for students, or students that have a disability and need extra assistance. The activity is engaging and hands-on for students. The teacher could also pair students in partners or small groups so students can build social and emotional connections in the class. Students will then use the data collected and recorded from the coin tosses to write a ratio for the number of heads to tails. This activity can also lead to a whole group discussion where students can compare ratios and results with their peers. This could be an activity added to the first lesson of the unit. The activity also points out that students can write the results in fractions and percentages. This could be an extension for high-flyers in the classroom. There are a multitude of different themed ratio games on this website.

This resource from Scholastics provides activities for connecting ratios to real world problems and careers. The three topics this resource discusses is a baseball stadium, amusement part, and an aquarium research center. The baseball stadium and amusement park are centered around ratios and the aquarium research center is centered around rates. There are activity questions for each topic along with extension questions for high-flyers and a section that reflects on each problem to relate it to the real world problems and connections. This is a great tool to get students interested in ratios and illustrate how ratios are used to solve real world problems. I think this resource could be included in lesson #4 of the unit. This could also be used as a gateway into a small group or individual project on different interests that students have, and how they can use ratios to solve problems connected to their topic. The website also provides a list of how this activity can be included in the classroom. The website also has links to different lessons and resources connected to ratios, as well as activity sheets and interactive tools.