Nassakeag Students Match Math and St. Patrick's Day Fun

Leading up to St. Patrick's Day, third grade students at Nassakeag Elementary in Maureen MacDowell's and Kathryn Comiskey's classes helped bake Irish soda bread for the Our Daily Bread food pantry at St. James Church in East Setauket.

Students measured, poured and mixed batter for 40 loaves of Irish soda bread. But here's where the challenge came in: at certain points in the recipe, one of the specific measurement tools was replaced and students would have to use their knowledge of equivalent fractions to figure out how much of that ingredient goes into the batter. For instance, if a one-cup measuring cup was removed, the students figured out that they could use two half-cups or other similar measurements to replace it. The lesson also incorporated elements from their English language arts and character education curricula.

The teachers took the batter home to bake it, and worked with the kids the following day to create cards to accompany each loaf of bread.

“This project really solidifies their understanding of equivalent fractions, as it enables them to visualize the problems and apply the lessons to a real-world situation,” MacDowell said.