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Grade 6 Math WebQuest · Unit 1 · 6.RP.A.1–3

The Lemonade League

Your school's Spring Festival is hiring one student-run drink cart, and three teams want the spot. To win the contract, your team must prove it can mix the official "Sunrise Splash" recipe to an exact ratio, scale it up for a crowd, buy ingredients at the best unit price, and beat the rival cart on delivery speed. Every decision is a ratio or a unit rate.

⏱ 1–2 class periods 🍋 Ratios two ways 📊 Ratio tables 💲 Best-deal unit rates

Bid for the Cart

A recipe is really a set of instructions about amounts compared to other amounts. Change the comparison and the drink tastes wrong. Keep the comparison equal — even when you make 10 times as much — and every cup tastes exactly the same. That equal comparison is a ratio, and the "cost or amount for just 1" is a unit rate.

The Driving Question

How can keeping a ratio constant — and comparing unit rates — help a small business serve a big crowd, spend the least money, and still win?

Level 1 · Support A ratio compares two amounts. "2 to 3" can be written 2 : 3 or as the fraction 2/3. A unit rate tells you the amount for exactly 1 (like "$3 for 1 cup"). En español: Una razón compara dos cantidades. "2 a 3" se escribe 2 : 3 o como la fracción 2/3. Una tasa unitaria dice la cantidad para exactamente 1 (por ejemplo, "$3 por 1 vaso").
Level 2 · Enrichment Smart sellers compare two things at once. They watch the recipe ratio (to keep quality) and the price-per-unit ratio (to keep profit). When you can hold one ratio steady while shopping for the best of another, you think like an entrepreneur.

The Task

By the end of this WebQuest, your team will turn in a Festival Bid Card that proves you can run the cart. A winning bid must:

The Process

Work through the steps in order. Each step fills in one part of your Bid Card.

Step 1 — Read the official recipe (write the ratio)

The Festival recipe for one batch of Sunrise Splash is: 2 cups of lemon juice for every 3 cups of cold water, plus a scoop of ice. The lemon-to-water comparison must never change, or the judges will taste the difference.

lemon : water

2 lemon : 3 water

Write that comparison two ways for your Bid Card:

  • Colon form: 2 : 3
  • Fraction form: 2/3

Order matters! "Lemon to water" is 2 : 3. "Water to lemon" would be 3 : 2 — a different ratio.

Level 1 · Support Say it out loud: "two lemon for every three water." The first number goes with the first word. En español: Dilo en voz alta: "dos de limón por cada tres de agua." El primer número va con la primera palabra.

Step 2 — Mix it in the 3D game

Open the Unit 1 mixing game and fill at least three orders. Watch what happens when you add too much of one ingredient: the meter shows the ratio is no longer 2 : 3. Keeping both amounts in step is exactly what you will do on paper next.

Step 3 — Scale up with a ratio table

The festival expects a crowd, so you must make many batches and keep the ratio equal. A ratio table grows both amounts by the same multiplier. Finish the missing values:

Batches Lemon juice (cups) Water (cups)
1 2 3
2 4 6
3 6 ?
5 ? 15
10 20 ?

Worked example — Row of 3 batches:

1 batch is 2 lemon : 3 water. Multiply both by 3: 2 × 3 = 6 lemon, and 3 × 3 = 9 water. The ratio 6 : 9 still equals 2 : 3.

Level 2 · Enrichment A festival pitcher holds 30 cups of finished drink. Using 2 : 3, how many cups of lemon juice and water are in one full pitcher? (Hint: the parts add to 5, so each "part" is 30 ÷ 5 = 6 cups.) Add this answer to your Bid Card as a bonus.

Step 4 — Shop for the best unit price

Lemons cost money. Three suppliers sell bags of lemon-juice cups at different prices. The smart move is to find the unit price — the cost of just 1 cup — and pick the lowest.

Sunny Farms

$12
for 4 cups

Citrus Co.

$15
for 6 cups

Market Fresh

$20
for 10 cups

Worked example — Sunny Farms unit price:

$12 ÷ 4 cups = $3 per cup. Now find the other two the same way and compare. The smallest number is the best deal.

Level 1 · Support Unit price means "price for 1." Always divide the dollars by the number of cups: dollars ÷ cups = price for 1 cup. En español: El precio unitario es "el precio por 1". Divide los dólares entre el número de vasos: dólares ÷ vasos = precio por 1 vaso.

Step 5 — Win the delivery-speed challenge

Carts are stored off-site and must drive to the field. Speed is a unit rate: miles per hour means "miles for 1 hour." Your truck travels 90 miles in 2 hours. Find its speed, then compare it to the rival cart in the self-check.

Level 2 · Enrichment The rival cart drives 120 miles in 3 hours. Whose unit rate (miles per hour) is faster, and by how many miles per hour? Defend your answer with numbers on your Bid Card.

Resources

Use these Neft Teacher tools as you work. They open in the same window — use your back button to return.

Unit 1 · 3D Mixing GameFill orders and keep the 2 : 3 recipe ratio in balance. Ratio Architect ActivityBuild ratio tables and test equivalent ratios step by step. Unit 1 Graphic NovelRead the ratio story to see the ideas in action. Math Writing Help · EN/ESSentence frames and bilingual vocabulary support.

Key vocabulary · Vocabulario clave

Evaluation

Your Festival Bid Card will be scored on this rubric.

Criteria 4 · Owner 3 · Manager 2 · Trainee 1 · Getting started
Writing ratios Ratio written correctly in both colon and fraction form. Ratio correct in one form. Ratio written with a small order error. Ratio not yet correct.
Ratio table All blanks correct; ratios all equivalent. One blank wrong. Two or three blanks wrong. Table not equivalent.
Best unit price All 3 unit prices correct; best deal justified. Unit prices correct; choice unclear. One unit price error. Unit prices missing or wrong.
Speed unit rate Correct mph and correct comparison of carts. Correct mph; comparison unclear. Small calculation error. Speed not found.
Self-check & submission Self-check passed; saved with name as PDF/DOC. Self-check done; saved file. Self-check started; file missing details. No submission.
Teacher Notes & Answer Key (not printed)

Sunrise Splash · Festival Bid Card — pairs with the Evaluation rubric above.

Sample Answers — Festival Bid Card

  • Recipe ratio: lemon : water = 2 : 3 (colon form) = 2/3 (fraction form). Order matters — water : lemon would be 3 : 2.
  • Ratio table (scale up): ×3 gives 6 lemon : 9 water; a 30-cup pitcher splits into 2 + 3 = 5 parts, so each part = 30 ÷ 5 = 6 cups → 12 cups lemon : 18 cups water.
  • Best unit price: $12 ÷ 4 = $3.00/cup; divide each supplier's dollars ÷ cups and pick the lowest cost per cup of lemons.
  • Delivery speed: our truck 90 mi ÷ 2 h = 45 mph; rival 120 mi ÷ 3 h = 40 mph → our cart is faster (higher unit rate).

Facilitation

  • Watch for students reversing the ratio order or adding to one part only — both amounts must scale together.
  • For the supplier compare, insist on a true unit price ($ per 1 cup) so the comparison is fair.

Standard

CCSS 6.RP.A.1–3.

Check Your Understanding

Answer all six. Click Check My Answers when you are done. These questions match the steps in your bid.

1.The Sunrise Splash uses 2 cups of lemon juice for every 3 cups of water. Write the ratio of lemon to water in colon form.
:
Hint / Pista: lemon first, then water. Format 2:3.
2.In the ratio table, 3 batches use 6 cups of lemon juice. How many cups of water are needed for 3 batches?
Hint / Pista: 1 batch = 3 water. Multiply by 3.
3.Which ratio is equivalent to the recipe ratio 2 : 3?
4.Sunny Farms: $12 for 4 cups. Citrus Co.: $15 for 6 cups. Market Fresh: $20 for 10 cups. Which supplier has the lowest unit price per cup?
Hint / Pista: divide dollars ÷ cups for each.
5.Your cart travels 90 miles in 2 hours. What is its speed in miles per hour?
Hint / Pista: miles ÷ hours = miles for 1 hour.
6.Your cart goes 90 miles in 2 hours (45 mph). The rival cart goes 120 miles in 3 hours. Which cart is faster?
Hint / Pista: find each cart's miles per hour, then compare.

Conclusion

You did exactly what real business owners do: you held a recipe ratio steady so every cup tasted the same, scaled it for a crowd with a ratio table, shopped by unit price to save money, and used a speed unit rate to beat the competition. With the best deal at $2.00 per cup and a faster cart at 45 mph, the Lemonade League contract is yours!

Take it further · Level 2

If you buy 30 cups of lemon juice at the best unit price, what is your total cost? Then set a fair selling price per cup so you make a profit.

Reflect · Reflexiona

Describe one real situation from your own life where you compared two amounts (a ratio) or found a "per one" value (a unit rate). ¿Dónde usas razones o tasas unitarias en tu vida?

Real careers · Carreras reales

Chefs, store buyers, delivery planners, and small-business owners all use ratios and unit rates every single day — the exact skills you just used.