Medieval Feast Fractions Project

Hear ye! Hear ye! The King has called for a feast for visiting royalty. You have received the honorable task of setting the table with the correct amount of food items and cutlery using fractions of a group!

I can't imagine what it must have been like to serve or attend a medieval feast; the staggering amount of food, jesters and jugglers entertaining the crowd, everyone finely dressed, and of course, the poor cooks and servants who had to deal with it all! I get stressed with all the details for just a few visitors for dinner nowadays!

The inspiration for the Medieval Feast Fractions Project came about from the need to incorporate a review fraction project into a medieval-themed year-end review game.  Hours were spent combing through sites on the internet for medieval-themed resources for my unit. I came across some wonderful resources from Skipton Castle which included the banquet and kitchen scene below. I hadn't been able to incorporate it yet with my unit, and so, the Medieval Feast Fraction Project was born.

First things first, I needed medieval feast clipart. Not so easy to find! So, I delved into creating my own clipart. Yes, you heard me right! Am I an artist? Nope! :) Wow, what a daunting learning project that was! I am very impressed with clipart artists and their ability to create beautiful things from a blank page!  I'm not the kind of person to just learn for learning sake. I need some sort of project to justify in my mind the amount of time and effort needed to learn how to draw on the computer. This project seemed like the perfect time to give it a try. All in all, I am proud of the set, especially the pig and swan. I feel like I have checked an item off my bucket list.

Onward to the project. The King has called a feast and needs the table to be set according to a specific amount of items. Students first find the fractions of each group of items for the table on a separate worksheet.

Next, students write the finalized answers on the project page and collect the correct amount of clipart to add to the king's table.

Note: In order to fit on the table (a single sheet of 12 x 18), the clipart needs to be trimmed closely to the edges of the items. No need to cut out the individual silverware pieces or apple stems, just get in nice and close. There is also an option to create larger table space by overlapping two 12 x 18 sheets in which the clipart doesn't need to be trimmed. Personally, I think the trimmed look is best, but classroom necessity rules all!

Two student examples are included to show how to set up the project without giving away the answers of how many of each item are to be used. The first is for the project on one 12 x 18 page and the second shows how to set up the project with the two overlapping 12 x 18 pages.

The king's feast is set and ready to go. I'm sure the guests will be most pleased with the banquet provided. Perhaps this teacher will enjoy a goblet full tonight as well. ☺

Find this project here and more medieval-themed resources at Morsel Tidbits.