Eat It Up!

Teacher Notes:

• A variety of answers are possible for the questions in this activity. If you want to do this as an in-class activity and do not have Internet access for each student group, you will want to have a supply of supermarket advertisements for students to use in pricing the ingredients.
• If you have Internet access for each student group, have them research the prices of the ingredients on the Internet. If they search for “groceries and delivery,” they should find some sites that offer online grocery shopping.
• When students have finished the activity, have them compare the costs of the holiday log.
• As an extension, have students get recipes and find the cost of a record-setting food of their choice by increasing the recipe and finding the cost of each ingredient.
• Determine whether you want students to find the cost of each ingredient to the exact measure, or whether you will allow estimates such as the cost of 463 pounds of flour rather than the exact amount given in the article.
• Students could make a graph comparing the costs of the individual ingredients. For example, a circle graph would be good for showing the percent of the total cost that is represented by each ingredient.

Procedure for the Activity

Answers:

1. Answers will vary. Students should list the cost of each individual ingredient.
   
   
2. Answers will vary. Students should add the costs of each ingredient from Exercise 1.
   
   
3. Sample answer: There may have been other ingredients, such as vanilla or decorations, for the holiday log. There would also be sales tax. There may also have been labor costs for making the log or special equipment, such as larger bowls, that needed to be purchased to make the log.
   
   
4. Answers will vary. Students may decide that they want to add some money for covering other expenses or making a profit on the sale of the portions.
   
   
5. 2.3 tons = 2.3 • 2000 = 4600 pounds; 4600 • 16 = 73,600 ounces; 73,600 ÷ 19,212 » 3.8 ounces
   
   
6. Sample answer: The log was 27 ft. 6 in. long or 330 in. long. Make 330 one-inch circular slices (assuming the log was a cylinder). Each slice would need to be cut into slightly more than 58 pieces, so approximate the size of a piece. If each slice was a circle and the log was 2 ft. wide, then the radius of this circle would be 1 foot or 12 inches. The circumference of the circle would be about 75 inches. So, make pie-shaped slices that are about 75 ÷ 58 » 1.3 inches at the base. The pieces would be one-inch thick pie-shaped pieces that are 1.3 inches at their widest point.

Wrapping Up the Activity

See students’ work.