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| Yours will be a little different. |
Here is what you will need:
"the crust"
- 15 paper plates (Shhhhhh...this is the answer, so just keep them stacked for now!)
1 handful of each of these small Legos:
"the meats"
- red (pepperoni)
- brown (sausage)
- gray (anchovies)
"the vegetables"
- black (black olives)
- green (green olives)
-white (onions)
Now that you have your supplies, let's get started! Grab the aprons, and if you don't have any, pin a towel around each child's waist.
At a table, explain that you are going to talk about combinations. With pizzas, how many combinations of 2-topping pizzas can be made with six ingredients? Let's find out!
When figuring combinations, remember that order does not matter.
The formula is:
nCr = ___n!___ = _P(n,r)_
(n-r) !r! r!
Check your scientific calculator for directions on how to input this information correctly.
This activity will be hands-on, rather than paper and pencil.
Have your "ingredients" in bowls on the table.
Let the children decide what the first pizza will be, remember each pizza will get 2 toppings-no more, no less.
Create one pizza at a time, using two ingredients for each. Place a few (about 5) Lego toppings on the plate.
When the children are finished creating pizzas, there will be 15 different ways to make a 2 topping pizza from the Lego "ingredients".
Guide students as they work. It may be best to start with one meat and complete all of those possible combinations, then move on to the next meat, then to vegetables. Be careful not to repeat any of the combinations.
Here is a guide to check your results:
p = peperoni bo = black olives
s = sausage go = green olives
a = anchovies o = onions
p, s s, a a, bo bo, go go, o
p, a s, bo a, go bo, o
p, bo s, go a, o
p, go s, o
p, o
All this talk of pizza may make you hungry for the real thing. Here is my easy way to make a home-made pizza...not completely from scratch, but oh so good!
Ingredients for 1 pizza:
1 Betty Crocker pizza crust mix
1/2 cup corn meal
5/8 cup hot tap water (=1/2 +1/8 cups)
1/2 jar pizza sauce (pour the other 1/2 in a freezer bag, then in the freezer for your next pizza)
1 cup sliced mushrooms (canned or fresh)
1 cup sliced turkey peperoni (about 1/2 of a package)
2 cups mozzarella cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix crust mix, corn meal, and water together and set aside for 5 minutes. Meanwhile grease a pizza pan and assemble ingredients. Spread pizza crust with finger tips-this is a bit tedious, so start in the middle and continue to work out to the edge of the pan. I like to use a greased pastry roller instead. Then spread sauce to edge of crust. Add your mushrooms and peperoni. Top with cheese and bake for about 15-17 minutes at 400 degrees in the middle of the oven.
My favorite way to change this is to add 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning to the crust mixture, saute a package of sliced, fresh mushrooms with a large, sliced onion and a tablespoon of olive oil over medium-low heat until tender, then change the cheese to an Italian blend. Otherwise keep everything the same as above. Experiment with the ingredients; see what you and your family likes best.
