Students investigate how division, fractions, decimals, and rates can help solve real decisions about sharing food fairly in their community. Over four weeks, they use real pantry inventory and package data to choose efficient strategies such as ratio tables, open arrays, division notation, partial quotients, and place-value reasoning with powers of 10. The work builds strong understanding of multidigit division, decimal operations, and fraction division while students explain their thinking through notebook captions, partner discussions, gallery-walk feedback, and a final math museum display.

Students will solve real community food pantry problems by choosing and explaining efficient strategies for whole-number, decimal, and fraction division, including partial quotients, equivalent ratios, open arrays, ratio tables, and division notation. They will use rates and ratios to compare package sizes, inventory amounts, and family needs, and decide how supplies can be shared fairly and reasonably. Students will recognize patterns when multiplying and dividing by powers of 10, use exponents to name those patterns, and apply place-value understanding to estimate and compute decimal products and quotients. They will communicate their mathematical thinking clearly through notebook captions, partner discussions, feedback routines, and a final museum poster and planning board based on pantry data.

Students will create ongoing notebook entries with labeled ratio tables, open arrays, division notation, estimates, and short captions explaining why a chosen strategy fits each pantry-sharing problem. Midway through the unit, teams will produce draft planning charts and model cards for a gallery walk, revise them using clear/question/suggestion feedback, and refine their calculations with pantry inventory data. By the end, students will present a community pantry planning board and a collaborative data display showing how whole-number, decimal, and fraction division can be used to compare package sizes, rates, and fair shares for families. Each student will also contribute to a math museum poster and a partner presentation that explains one multistep decision using a visual model and justified solution.

Kick off with a “Division Detective” experience in which students rotate through short mystery stations using food pantry clues: package labels, inventory cards, family-size needs, decimal quantities, and rate puzzles. At each station, teams estimate first, then choose a tool such as a ratio table, open array, or division notation to decide how supplies could be shared fairly and efficiently. End with a reveal from the local food pantry partner through a note, photo set, or brief video asking students to help answer how division, fractions, decimals, and rates can guide real distribution decisions. Students close by naming patterns they noticed about quotients, rates, and powers of 10 and posting questions they want to investigate during the unit.

Host a “Pantry Math Museum” where student teams present their community pantry planning boards and collaborative data displays to families, school staff, classmates, and a representative from the local food pantry. Each team explains one pantry-sharing decision using a ratio table, open array, or division notation and shows how fraction division, decimal computation, and rates helped them make a fair and reasonable recommendation. Include a short feedback walk in which visitors leave comments or questions about the clarity of the model, the usefulness of the strategy, and the reasonableness of the solution. End with partner presentations of the performance task so students practice clear mathematical communication with an authentic audience.