Math Lessons with Sourdough Starters

We made sourdough starters this year, and it is a perfect activity to encompass weights and measurements with addition and subtraction. The kids wrote our the steps and the equations, and did their own measuring, weighing, and mixing. We also talked about the fermentation process, and watched a few online videos about bread and mold. We used a digital scale, and the following recipe:

75 g whole wheat flour

25 g white flour

150 g lukewarm water

Each family member weighed their jar, then weighed the mixture and subtracted the weight manually to check the digital scale (we recorded the weight on our jars) The feeding recipe we used daily:

60 g room temperature water

60 g flour

(after discarding starter down to 60 g)

It was fabulous math lesson, but all of the starters didn't make it (not everyone was committed to feeding their creation daily).