Can you make me some lemonade pretty please?

Maria is 8 years old and loves lemonade. Every day after school Maria asks her mom, “Can you make me some lemonade pretty please?” and everyday her mom pours her a freshly squeezed cup of lemonade.

Maria what if I taught you how to make freshly squeezed lemonade this weekend and then you can help me make it every time you want it?

Oh Mom that would be so much fun!

One night after reading Maria her bedtime story, her mother asked her, “Maria, what if I taught you how to make freshly squeezed lemonade this weekend and then you can help me make it every time you want it?” Maria replied, “Oh Mom that would be so much fun!”

So as Maria went to sleep that night all she could think about was Saturday morning when her mom would teach her how to make homemade lemonade.

On Saturday morning Maria got up extra early because she was so excited to make the lemonade. After breakfast her mom got out the recipe which had the ingredients:

• 3 cups fresh lemon juice
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 12 cups chilled water

Her mom then got out the measuring cups and bowls and read aloud the first instruction which was: combine juice and sugar in a one-gallon container. So her mom said “Maria now we have to squeeze the lemons to make three cups of juice and add the 2 and ¼ cups of sugar.” Which measuring cups will Maria need for this part of the instructions?

Maria will need the 1 cup and the 1/4 cup measuring cups. Which means that she will use the red and green measuring cup.

With her mom’s help, Maria squeezed enough lemon juice to create 3 cups. Then Maria realized that she needed to use the 1 cup twice for the sugar to equal 2 cups of sugar and also add the ¼ cup of sugar. After combining those ingredients in the one gallon container, Maria used the 1 cup 12 times to add 12 cups of chilled water.

I need a break!

Then Maria stirred and stirred until her arms were too tired. “Phew that was hard mom, I need a break!” Then her mom kept stirring until all the sugar was dissolved as Maria watched.

Mom, what if I opened a lemonade stand and the proceeds could go to the orphanage, Hogar de Vida, in San Andres, Guatemala!

Maria, that is a wonderful idea!

While Maria was drinking her fresh cup of lemonade she had an idea! “Mom, what if I opened a lemonade stand and the proceeds could go to the orphanage, Hogar de Vida, in San Andres, Guatemala!” Maria’s mother exclaimed and said, “Maria, that is a wonderful idea!”

Wait I am going to have to make a lot more lemonade! And I am going to have to figure out how many cups will make 3 gallons.

So right away Maria started making her poster and gathered all the change she had in her piggy bank. After she was done with that Maria thought, “Wait I am going to have to make a lot more lemonade! And I am going to have to figure out how many cups will make 3 gallons."

If there are 12 cups of water to make one gallon of lemonade, how many cups of water would Maria need to make 3 gallons of lemonade?

12 + 12 + 12 = 36 cups of water

Maria realized that if there were 12 cups in one gallon then she would need to add 12 three times. So 12+12+12 = 36 cups of water. She did that for the lemon juice and sugar as well. For the lemon juice she added 3+3+3 = 9 cups of lemon juice. Then she added 2 1/4 + 2 1/4 + 2 1/4 = 6 ¾ cups of sugar for 3 gallons of lemonade.

Nice job, Maria. These are all correct! Now let’s get stirring!

After going through all the calculations, Maria made sure her calculations were correct by asking her mother to review them. Her mother said, “Nice job, Maria. These are all correct! Now let’s get stirring!”