Kitchen Math

Children's Literature

One of the many places that people may find mathematics helpful is in the kitchen. On page five, the caption for the picture states. This book addresses the idea of kitchen math by using recipes and doubling them. Sometimes there are differences in the way liquid ingredients are measured and the way dry ingredients are measured. It is unclear why the author changes fraction measurements to decimals, since decimal measures are not used with teaspoons, tablespoons and cups. Subtraction is used to compare the temperature in a refrigerator or a freezer to normal room temperature. Subtraction is used, also, to compare the temperature in an oven set to bake a cake to normal room temperature. An example of the nutrition facts from a can of soup is shown and discussed. It is pointed out that these facts are based on the serving size, and, if a person eats more than the serving size, the nutritional facts must be adjusted accordingly. The U.S. Customary System of measure is compared to the metric system. Methods of conversion between the two systems are explained and demonstrated. This is part of the "Math and My World" series. 2004, Rourke Publishing LLC, Ages 8 to 12.
—Sally Niezgoda