Reply To: Lesson 7-1: Hot Chocolate Task – Discussion

[Christina Michaels]

I did this lesson with my 6th, 7th and 8th graders. The problem was accessible to all, and it was really interesting to question and push students into explaining their thinking– everyone was able to come to a correct answer, but it was more difficult for them to really show their reasoning. I used this lesson as an introduction to how we can represent ratio thinking (i.e. ratio tables, double number lines, graphs, tape diagrams) in multiple ways.

The extension was interesting as well– how many cups of hot cocoa can you make with 55 scoops. It was very gratifying to see students using their representations to solve the problem, and of course the discussions that occurred around the extra scoop– what does that extra scoop mean? what could you do with it? can you have just a part of a cup of hot cocoa or does it always have to be a full cup?