Name That Ratio! Educational Resources K12 Learning, Ratios, Rates, Percentages, and Proportions, Math Lesson Plans, Activities, Experiments, Homeschool Help

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Did you know?

Caterers use ratios to determine how much food to prepare for an event. Research how architects and farmers use ratios in their jobs. What other career areas might use this skill to make work easier? Record your thoughts and findings in a journal, then read on so you can learn to write ratios!

This lesson will help you refresh your math skill of ratios and how to name them.

Your first activity was to research how farmers and architects each use ratios in their jobs. Once you locate that information, discuss what you found with your parent or teacher. Following that discussion, continue through this section to review how to name or write a ratio.

Refresh your memory

Read the following letter. Then use its information along with the image below to create a ratio for each statement.

Dear Jake,

So sorry you missed Rebecca's 12^th birthday party, but I did send you a picture. The party was okay — they did not order enough pizza, so each kid got two slices, and you know how hungry Alan gets! Rebecca did receive some nice gifts. The one thing she really wanted was new soccer shorts, and six of her friends gave her a pair as presents. The last thing you should know is that there were more girls than boys there. Well, I hope you are enjoying your vacation! Hopefully, you will be able to make Rebecca’s next birthday party when she turns 13!

Your friend,

Mars

Remember, a ratio is a comparison of two quantities. In the picture above, we can compare several different quantities. Suppose we want to know how many bouquets of balloons there are compared to the number of female guests. All we have to do is count the number of balloon bouquets and then count the number of girls. There are five balloon bouquets and six girls at the party. Next, you write what you are comparing in words:

balloon bouquets to girls

Then, substitute the words in the above statement with the numerical quantities:

5 to 6

And there you are! You wrote the information in the form of a ratio.

Remember, one way to write a ratio is to write a number, then the word “to,” then the second number.
The other way is to write each of the numbers and put a colon in between them: 5:6.

Finally, you can write a ratio as a fraction: ⁵⁄₆.

Now that you had time to refresh your memory, practice writing ratios by completing the activity below:

Can you think of some ratios in your everyday life? One example could be number of hot dogs in a package to number of hot dog rolls in a package.

The Got It? section of this lesson offers opportunities for you to continue to practice this skill and assure that you are proficient in writing ratios.