The Open Door Project: Using Math to Serve the Community
Tori Wilbur’s Grade 6 math class learned an unforgettable lesson in the power of numbers during a recent unit on ratios that began in her classroom and ended up bringing smiles to a roomful of senior citizens.
Instead of assigning problem sets to practice ratios, scaling, and conversions, Wilbur decided to give her class firsthand experience, reinforcing those concepts by combining math with service learning. As part of Leadership Week in the fall, Rivers Middle School had partnered with Natick's Open Door as a community service project, setting the idea in motion for Wilbur.
She decided to formally incorporate the project into her unit on ratios last month by involving her students in two Open Door dinners from beginning to end. First the students consulted by phone with the program’s director to determine the menu, settling on fettucine alfredo for one meal and meatloaf with gravy and potatoes for the following week. Salad and dessert rounded out each meal.
Then students took the basic recipes, scaled the quantities of each ingredient needed to make 60 servings, and used unit pricing to calculate which brand was the best value for each ingredient. They calculated how much money they would need for their groceries, took their shopping list to the local supermarket, and filled their baskets to the brim.
Next up was preparing the meal at Sherrill Hall at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Natick—slicing and dicing, boiling and baking. After school many of the students returned to set the tables, serve the guests, sing along with them, and clean up after an epic meal.
The students’ comments revealed a lot about the unexpected takeaways of experiential learning.
“The people who came for dinner weren’t just there because they couldn’t afford to eat, they were there for the company,” said Matthew Abrams. “We were helping people who might be lonely have a nice, healthy meal together.”
“The best part was seeing their faces. Everyone was so happy,” said Sophie Bailey. “The time went by so quickly.”
And perhaps the best comment of all for these students’ parents: “For all the parents who make our meals, I now appreciate what they do!” concluded Colin Falvey.
Click here for a behind the scenes look at Wilbur’s ratio class.
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