Math

• Math anxiety


  The fear, stress and worry that people experience in situations involving math
• Situations when you might experience math anxiety

  • Having to complete a math worksheet
  • Thinking about a math test or taking a math test
  • Watching the teacher work out a math problem
  • Working on math homework with lots of difficult questions
  • Listening to the teacher talk for a long time about math
  • Listening to another student explain a math problem
  • Starting a new topic in math
• Common symptoms of math anxiety

  • Racing heart
  • Sweating
  • Feeling like you have knots in your stomach
  • Difficulty focusing
  • Feeling like you want to escape the situation
• Fight or flight response


  The body's response to the stress and anxiety caused by math
• Amygdala


  • A key part of the brain that processes negative emotions like fear, stress and anxiety
  • Sends fear signals to the rest of the brain
• Frontal lobe


  • The "control panel" in your brain, responsible for balancing your emotions, logic, reasoning and working memory
  • Anxiety can overload that control panel
• The frontal lobe is made up of many parts including the Prefrontal cortex (PFC), the Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC).
• Pain centres


  • Parts of the brain that tell your body to feel pain and signal physical threats
  • One of these areas is called the Insular Cortex
• Dyscalculia is a learning disability that affects a person's ability to understand and work with numbers and math ideas. People with dyscalculia may have difficulty with tasks like counting, calculating and recognizing math symbols. It's similar to dyslexia, but with numbers!
• Research suggests that students who are anxious about math will grow up to become adults who are anxious about math.
• Math anxiety can lead to difficulties making financial decisions, managing debt, and investing effectively.
• Overcoming Math Anxiety


  1. Strengthen your basics

  2. Write down your fears

  3. Breathe and Refocus

  4. Practice a growth mindset

  5. Break down the question
• Cognitive offloading


  The process of writing down your thoughts and feelings, which frees up space in your brain and can help you feel less nervous and score better on tests
• Let's Talk Science appreciates the contributions of Andie Storozuk in the development of this part of the handbook. Andie is a doctoral candidate in Experimental Psychology at the University of Ottawa. As part of the Emotion and Cognition Lab, she specializes in studying the connection between math anxiety and financial literacy.
• Math functions like conversions, fractions and time calculations are all important for cooking. Everybody who cooks, from home cooks to world famous chefs, use math in the kitchen!
• Measuring


  An important part of cooking and baking
• Measurement units in the Imperial System

  • Pound (lb.)
  • Ounce (oz.)
  • Gallon (gal.)
  • Quart (qt.)
  • Pint (pt.)
  • Cup (c.)
  • Fluid ounce (fl. oz. or oz.)
  • Tablespoon (tbsp.)
  • Teaspoon (tsp.)
• Conversion


  1. 1 tbsp. = 3 tsp.

  2. 1 tsp. = 1/3 tbsp.

  3. 1 cup = 16 tbsp.

  4. 1 tbsp. = 1/16 cup

  5. 1 cup = 8 fl. oz.

  6. 1 fl. oz. = 1/8 cup
• Accuracy

  How close a measurement is to the true value
• Precision


  How close measurements are to each other
• Baking is like conducting an experiment! The chemical reactions that happen between ingredients—like baking soda and vinegar—require exact proportions.
• In cooking, accuracy is not always as critical. There's more room for flexibility.
• Fractions


  Smaller parts that a cup can be divided into, like half-cups, quarter-cups, and one-third cups
• Each stick of butter contains 1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons. Cutting a stick in half gives you 1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons.
• Cutting a cake into 8 equal slices by only cutting it 3 times

  1. Cut the cake in half to get 2 equal halves

  2. Cut each half in half to get 4 equal quarters

  3. Cut each quarter in half to get 8 equal slices
• Ratios


  The relationship between different ingredients, used to scale recipes up or down while maintaining the same taste and consistency
• Common ingredient ratios


  • Salad dressing: 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar (3:1)
  • Bread dough: 5 parts flour to 3 parts liquid (5:3)
  • Pie crust: 3 parts flour to 2 parts fat to 1 part water (3:2:1)
• Ratio


  The relationship between two or more quantities, expressed as a fraction
• Examples of common ratios

  • Salad dressing: 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar (3:1)
  • Bread dough: 5 parts flour to 3 parts liquid (5:3)
  • Pie crust: 3 parts flour to 2 parts fat to 1 part water (3:2:1)
• Ratios are a simple way for experienced cooks to remember basic recipes
• Once you have mastered a basic recipe, you can build on it to suit your taste
• Certain recipes are harder to modify than others
• Temperature


  Affects how recipes turn out
• Time


  Affects how recipes turn out
• Different recipes need different temperatures for specific reasons
• Higher temperatures cook food faster but can change texture and moisture
• Lower temperatures and longer times result in gradual, even cooking which impacts flavour and tenderness
• The temperature of ingredients before cooking can also affect a recipe
• Meat thermometers are used to measure the precise internal temperature of meat to ensure it is cooked safely
• Collecting and analyzing data is an important part of cooking