CookiePortfolio

MeganKirk
CastleViewHighSchool

Abstract

ThebigproblemwearedoinginmathistheFancyPastriesbakeryproblem.Inthis
problem,weareaskedtohelpabakerysellcookiesandgivethemdifferentoptionstoobtainthe
greatestprofit.Forthisproblem,weareaskedtobemostresourcefulwithingredients,bake
cookiesinthetimelimit,andearnthegreatestprofit.Therearetwotypesofcookiesthatwillbe
soldbythedozenicedandsugarcookies.Wearetoldthateachdozenofsugarcookiesrequire
onepoundofdough,whereaseachdozenoficedcookiesrequires0.7poundsofdoughand0.4
poundsoficing.Wearegiven110poundsofdoughand32poundsoficing.Eachdozenofsugar
cookieshasa$1.50profitandeachdozenoficedcookiehasa$2.00profit.Finally,wehavea
totalof15hourstobakeallthecookies.Ittakes0.1hourofpreparationtimeforadozensugar
cookiesand0.15hourofpreparationtimeforadozenicedcookies.ThegoalistogiveFancy
Pastriesdifferentoptionstogainthemostprofit.
Inthisportfolio,Imdemonstratingmathtwopracticesandskills.Themainpractices
includetheabilitytomakesenseofproblemswhileperseveringtosolvethem,clearly
communicatingmythinking,andfindingawaytostructuremywork.ThemathskillsIam
showingarewritingequationsandinequalitiesfromcontext,solvingsystemsofequations,
graphingequationsandinequalities,graphingfeasibleregion,findingamaximumandminimum
valueusinggraphingandalgebra,andcreatinglinearprogrammingproblems.Allofthese
practicesandskillscanbeshowninthecookieproblem.Whiledoingthecookieproblem,I
learnedmanyoftheseskillsandpracticesbyfixingmistakesImade.
Whiledoingthecookieproblem,Ilearnedmanyoftherequiredskills.WhenIfirst
startedtheproblem,Ididntreallyknowwheretostart.Ihadtofirstfigureoutwhattheproblem
wasasking.Ialsohadtofigureoutawaytofindwhattheproblemwasasking.Finally,Ihadto
findawaytoclearlycommunicatemythinkingandhowIsolvedtheproblem.Istruggledtofind
awaytoapproachtheproblem.Itriedfollowingalonginthebookbutfoundthatitwashardfor
me.Afterthat,Itriedcommunicatingwithmypeerstoworkthroughtheproblemandfoundthat
whenputtingtwobrainstogether,wecouldaccomplishmuchmore.AnotherstruggleIhadwas
whenIstartedgraphing.IhadmanydifferentvariablesthathadtobegraphedandIwas
confusedonhowtoputthemallonthesamegraph.Likebefore,Ifirstlookedtothebookfor
helpbutendeduptalkingtomypeerstosolvetheproblem.Finally,amainstruggleIhadwas
findingoutwhatIhadtodoinordertopresentallmyskillsandgrowthinthisproblem.We
weregivenaguidingsheetthathadpageswecouldworkontoshoweachskill,butwhen
lookingattheproblemIrealizedIcouldshowalltheskillswithinthecookieproblem.Ilearned
howtoclearlyshowmygrowthwithinthecookieproblem.Allofthesestruggleshelpedme
learnalloftheskillsandpractices.Italsohelpedshowmygrowthwitheachskillwithinthe
problem.


Practices

Thefirstpracticewasmakingsenseofproblemsandperseveringinsolvingthem.While
workingonthecookieproblemItrieddifferentwaystosolvetheproblem.Aftertryingafew
waysthatdidntworkIgotabitfrustratedandhadtotakeabreakfromit.Alittlelater,Iwent
backtotheproblemandfiguredoutawaytosolveit.
Thesecondpracticewastoclearlycommunicatemythinking.Itriedthisbymaking
tablesatfirsttoshowmydata,butthenrealizedallofitwasextrawork.Noneofitreallyneeded
tobeshowntoproveIcompletedtheskillsandproblems.
Thelastpracticewastoviewthebigpictureoftheproblem.AtfirstIwastryingtofind
thebestprice,usealltheingredients,andbakethecookiesinacertainamountoftime.WhenI
lookedbackattheproblemIrealizedthattheonlythingthequestionwasaskingforwasthebest
price.Althoughtherewerelimitswiththeotherelements,Iwasntaskedtofocusonthose.

Skills

Thefirstskillwewereaskedtoshowwastowriteequationsandinequalitiesfroma
context.Thecookieproblemgavedifferentnumberstellingtheamountofdoughandicing
neededforeachtypeofcookie,thetimeittakestomakeeachcookie,andtheprofiteachcookie
wouldmake.Usingthesenumbers,Icreatedequationstouseonmyoverallgraph.

TheseweretheequationsIwrotefortheproblem:

Pistheamount(dozens)ofplainsugarcookies
Iistheamount(dozens)oficedcookies
AmountofDough:P+0.7I110
AmountofIcing:0.4I32
AmountofPreparationTime:0.1P+0.15I15
AmountofOvenSpace:P+I140

Thesecondskillwewereaskedtoshowwassolvingasystemofequations.Afterwriting
myequations,Ihadtofigureouthowtoputthemallofonegraph.Ihaddifferentvariables
includingtime,dozens,andpounds.Aftertalkingtoapeer,Ifiguredouthowtoputthemallona
graphthatshoweddozens.
Thethirdskillwewereaskedtoshowwastowriteequivalentandinequalitiesin
differentbutequalforms.ThereisntmuchIdidinthecookieproblemtoshowthis,butplanto
elaborateonitbytakingtheproblemfurtherandfindingawaytoalsoincludethis.

Thefourthskillwewereaskedtoshowwasgraphingequationsandinequalities.Using
myequationsIwrotefortheproblemImadeagraphwithallfourequationsonit.
Thefifthskillwewereaskedtoshowwasgraphingfeasibleregion.First,Igraphedfour
equationsononegraph.ThenIfoundoutwhetherthefeasibleregionwasaboveorbeloweach
equationline.OnceIdidthiswithallfourlines,Ifoundthefeasibleregionforallfourequations
combined.
Thesixthskillwewereaskedtoshowwasfindingamaximumandminimumforeach
equation.Ilookedateachequationandsawwhatthemaximumandminimumdozentherewas
foreachequation.
Thelastskillwewereaskedtoshowwastocreatealinearprogrammingproblem.I
haventbeenabletodomuchwiththisyet,butplantofocusonitinordertolearnitcompletely.