Activity 01
Simulation Game: The Master Chef
Give groups a recipe for 4 people and ask them to adjust it for 6, 10, and 15 people. They must use ratio and scaling to ensure the proportions remain correct, then present their new ingredient lists to the 'Head Chef' (the teacher).
Differentiate between a ratio (part to part) and a fraction (part to whole).
Facilitation TipDuring The Master Chef activity, circulate with counters and recipe cards to intervene immediately when students add instead of multiply ratios.
What to look forProvide students with two scenarios: 'For every 3 red marbles, there are 5 blue marbles' and '3 out of every 8 marbles are red'. Ask students to write the ratio notation for each and identify which is a part to part ratio and which is a part to whole ratio.
ApplyAnalyzeEvaluateCreateSocial AwarenessDecision-Making
Generate Complete Lesson→· · ·
Activity 02
Inquiry Circle: Scale My Drawing
Students draw a simple character on a 1cm grid. They then work in pairs to redraw the character on a 2cm grid (scale factor 2) and a 0.5cm grid (scale factor 0.5), discussing how the area and perimeter change as they scale.
Explain how to simplify a ratio to its simplest form.
Facilitation TipIn Scale My Drawing, circulate to check that students label their ratios clearly with the original and new dimensions before scaling.
What to look forDisplay a ratio, for example, 12:18. Ask students to write the ratio in its simplest form on a mini-whiteboard. Then, present a simple word problem like, 'In a class, the ratio of teachers to students is 1:15. If there are 3 teachers, how many students are there?'
AnalyzeEvaluateCreateSelf-ManagementSelf-Awareness
Generate Complete Lesson→· · ·
Activity 03
Think-Pair-Share: Ratio or Fraction?
Show a picture of 2 apples and 3 oranges. Ask: 'What is the ratio of apples to oranges?' and 'What fraction of the fruit are apples?' Students discuss in pairs why the numbers are different (2:3 vs 2/5) and share their reasoning.
Construct a real-world problem that can be solved using ratio notation.
Facilitation TipFor Ratio or Fraction? have students first write their own answers, then discuss in pairs before sharing with the class to uncover misconceptions.
What to look forPose the question: 'Imagine you are making fruit punch. You have a recipe that uses 2 parts orange juice to 3 parts cranberry juice. What does this ratio tell you about the ingredients? How would you change the recipe if you wanted to make a much larger batch but keep the same taste?'
UnderstandApplyAnalyzeSelf-AwarenessRelationship Skills
Generate Complete Lesson→A few notes on teaching this unit
Teach ratio notation by connecting it to real contexts students already understand, like recipes or drawings. Avoid starting with abstract symbols alone, as this often leads to rote memorization without understanding. Use concrete models first, then transition to symbolic notation only after students can explain the relationships in words. Research shows that students who begin with physical manipulatives or visual models develop stronger proportional reasoning than those who start with algorithms.
Students should confidently write ratios in correct notation, explain what the numbers represent in context, and apply scaling consistently. They should also distinguish between part-to-part and part-to-whole comparisons without confusing the order or using additive reasoning.
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
During The Master Chef activity, watch for students who add the same amount to each part instead of multiplying the entire ratio. For example, doubling 2:3 as 4:5 instead of 4:6.
Hand students physical counters representing 2 red and 3 blue beads. Ask them to create two identical batches and observe that the total is 4 red and 6 blue, not 4 red and 5 blue. Have them record the new ratio as 4:6 and relate it back to doubling the original.
During Scale My Drawing, watch for students who reverse the order of the ratio when scaling. For example, scaling a 3:2 ratio to 6:4 instead of 4:6.
Have students label each part of their drawing clearly with the original ratio before scaling. Provide a checklist with instructions to peer-check the order against the labels and adjust if necessary before proceeding.
Methods used in this brief