Food for Thought

Materials: calculator, grid paper, 12 cans of food

Work alone or in pairs.

In this activity, you will look for a relationship between the number of ounces and the number of grams in a can of food. Follow the steps below to help you find the relationship.

Procedure for the Activity

Step 1 Copy or print out the table shown below.

Name of Item	Measure of Contents (g)	Measure of Contents (oz)

Step 2 Select one can of food. Write the name of the item in Column 1. Write the measure of the contents given in grams in Column 2. Write the measure of the contents given in ounces in Column 3.
Step 3 Use the rest of your cans of food to complete the table.
Step 4 Select two items from your list. Write an ordered pair (grams, ounces) for each item. Find the rate of change for the two ordered pairs.
Step 5 Select two different items from your list. Write an ordered pair (grams, ounces) for each item. Find the rate of change for the two ordered pairs.
Step 6 How did the rates of change compare from Steps 4 and 5?
Step 7 Write an ordered pair for each remaining item. Graph all of the ordered pairs on grid paper. Describe the pattern of the data.
Step 8 Suppose you know the number of ounces in a can of food. How can you use the graph in Step 7 to find the number of grams in the can?
Step 9 What does the rate of change you found in Steps 4 and 5 represent in this situation?

Wrapping Up the Activity

Research the relationship between grams and ounces in a resource book. How does the relationship compare to what you found in this activity? How could you use this relationship to change grams to ounces? ounces to grams?