EILEEN ADLER

And all the time I thought I was just cooking or dancing or sewing. Fasten your seat belts again, it’s going to be a crafty – mathy ride!

For the chef, why you use math all the time! 

• Changing Quantities: baking cookies is so delicious but sometimes you want to make a bigger batch. To double the amounts, multiply each ingredient by two. If the recipe calls for 2/3 cup milk, 2/3 times 2 = 4/3 which is an improper fraction. 4 ÷ 3 = 1 and 1/3 cups of milk.  

• My that’s a big turkey so how long will it take to cook? The general rule of thumb is twenty minutes per pound in a preheated 350-degree F (175 degrees C) oven. Multiply the number of pounds by 20 minutes and then divide the number sixty minutes in an hour to know how long your turkey needs to roast. 

Dancing and music are all about timing, rhythm, beat, spatial relationships, emphasis, symmetry and structure and it’s all math!

Two Guys Dancing About Math – Karl Schaffer and Erik Stern have been choreographing and performing dance pieces based on mathematical ideas for almost thirty years! 

Sewing is all about the fabric and more.

• Sewing requires fabric so how much will you buy?  Math is measuring the amount of yardage you need, estimating the amount of extra fabric, how to pin multiple shapes together to create congruent pieces, matching patterns, and doing things in reverse. Through the processes, you are sharpening your mechanical, creative, fine motor, and spatial skills as well.

Quilting is more than fabric because it’s tessellations, geometry, area, angles, using a tape measure or templates. 

• Paper Quilting is just that – creating quilts that are works of paper art. Simple supplies – paper, scissors, and glue – and a background to attach your quilt blocks too.

Self-Care Ritual: Share your crafty math with friends. Share your math craft with me too!