The Dishes puzzle - Blog Response #11

 Here is my approach in solving the dishes puzzle without the use of algebra. 

First I will interpret the information and relationships that are given to us.

• Every 2 guests shared 1 dish of rice
• Every 3 guests shared 1 dish of broth
• Every 4 guests shared 1 dish of meat
• There are 65 dishes used in total

Okay, then to make my calculations easier, I see that 12 is the common multiple of 2, 3, and 4. Then I can say that for every 12 guests there are:

• 6 dishes of rice
• 4 dishes of broth
• 3 dishes of meat

Then for 12 guests, there are 6 + 4 + 3 = 13 dishes. 

Then I interpreted the question like this: If a group of 12 guests enters the restaurant and requests 13 dishes, how many groups are required to reach a request of 65 dishes?

After some quick guess and checking, I see that 13 $\times$ 5 = 65, so 5 groups of 12 is 60 guests in total! 

I think that it makes a difference to our students to offer problems that come from diverse cultures. Especially when students see examples that relate to their own backgrounds, they may feel a personal connection to the material. Maybe it makes them more interested in the problem, or it maybe it's just the simple thought of seeing their culture being recognized in the classroom that makes them happy! To me, it's always the little things that matter and if incorporating storytelling in the classroom brings the students joy, I see no reason why we shouldn't do it! 

For similar reasons as above, including fun and informational images can contribute to a lot. I can imagine a student looking at that image of the banquet and going "Mmm..., that makes me hungry." Even if its a small difference, it still has a lot of power to bring colour in a classroom.