Students use ratio, rate, and percent reasoning to create a food truck menu that can accurately serve different crowd sizes while still making a profit. Through recipe scaling, pricing, feedback, and public pitching, they apply math to a realistic business challenge that matters to their community. The experience builds careful listening, clear communication, collaboration, and strategic tool use as students explain and defend their choices. It also supports pride and confidence in their ideas while honoring the value and dignity of teammates, community partners, and different food traditions.

Students use ratio language, equivalent ratios, and unit rates to scale food truck recipes accurately for 50, 100, and 500 guests, and they apply percent reasoning to estimate tax and profit margins for menu pricing. They analyze ingredient costs, choose strategic tools such as tables, double number lines, calculators, and equations, and use those structures to build and defend a profitable menu board for a large event. Students listen carefully to teammates, the food truck owner, and Paco, then clearly communicate their mathematical thinking through spoken pitches, written menu boards, and visual models. Students also show pride and confidence in their ideas and identities while honoring the value and dignity of others during feedback, collaboration, and revision.

Students will create working ratio tables, tape diagrams, cost trackers, and draft recipe-scaling sheets as they test menu ideas for different crowd sizes. Midway through, each team will produce a revised sample menu item display showing one scaled recipe, its unit rate, and an early profit estimate for peer critique. By the end, teams will build and defend a final food truck menu board with serving-size math, ingredient costs, unit rates, percent-based profit calculations, and projected earnings for a large event. The class will also create a shared Street Eats pitch board, and teams will present a Shark Tank-style pitch to classmates, the food truck owner, and Paco using clear visuals and spoken explanations.

Open with a “Menu Mystery Mix-Up Day” where teams receive sample recipes, crowd-size cards for 50, 100, and 500 guests, and real ingredient prices from a local food truck or Paco the chef. Students race to scale one menu item, calculate a first unit rate and rough profit guess, then post their thinking on a quick menu board draft using tables, tape diagrams, or double number lines. After the challenge, Paco or the food truck owner reacts to the teams’ ideas and shares how chefs make pricing and scaling decisions for large events. Close with a short team discussion on how careful listening, clear communication, and respectful collaboration help groups make smart business choices while valuing everyone’s ideas.

Host a Street Eats Shark Tank where each team presents its final menu board to classmates, the food truck owner, Paco, and invited families or school staff. Students should clearly explain how they scaled recipes for 50, 100, and 500 people, justify unit rates and profit estimates, and answer audience questions about cost, pricing, and planning for large orders using charts, visuals, or digital slides. Display the class-made Street Eats pitch board so guests can compare best-selling items, ingredient costs, and projected earnings across teams. End with a brief audience feedback form that highlights mathematical accuracy, clarity of communication, and how well teams showed pride and confidence while respecting others’ ideas.