A Real-World Project to Help You Apply Equation and Inequality Skills to Real Life!

The

Cupcake Shop

A real-world project to help you apply equation and inequality skills to real life!

Date assigned: February 21, 2014

Due: May 19, 2014

Store Set Up

You have decided to open a cupcake store! You have $2,000 to get the store up and running. Luckily you are able to bake the cupcakes at your house, so you do not need to pay for a place to have your store! Now it’s time to make some business decisions.

Decide on a name for your store:

______

Why did you pick this name?

You, being the owner and operator of your new business, will have to take on many jobs. The jobs are:

· Head of sales – you will design a flyer to help bring business to your store.

· Head of baking – you will create new cupcake recipes.

· Head of display – you will design the menu board.

Cupcake Ingredients

You have decided that each month you will make 50 dozen of each of the six cupcakes on your menu. You need to purchase ingredients to get started. Using your individual Cupcake Ingredients pages, come up with the total amount of everything you will need. If you don’t need a certain ingredient, just leave it blank. Space has been provided for additional ingredients as well. You may use the recipes provided or come up with your own from cook books or family favorites. Be creative!

Cupcake Ingredients

Amounts Needed

Flour / Vegetable Oil
Baking Powder / Crushed Almonds
Baking Soda / Crème de Menthe
Salt / Green Food Coloring
Freeze Dried Strawberries / Peanut Butter
Butter / Powdered Sugar
Sugar / Fresh Strawberries
Eggs / Caramel
Vanilla / Lemon Zest
Milk / Lemon Juice
Cocoa Powder / Raspberries

Cupcake Ingredients

Amounts Needed

Cost of the Ingredients

Unfortunately, the ingredients are not free. Complete the following tables to show the total cost for each ingredient. You can accomplish this task by visiting your local grocery store or viewing: www.shoprite.com

Hint: 10 cups of dry ingredients is equivalent to 5 pounds

16 tablespoons of dry ingredients is equivalent to 1 cup

8 ounces of liquid is equivalent to one cup

Cost of the Ingredients

Cupcake Selections

#1 – Cake Flavor______Icing ______

Cupcake Name ______

#2 – Cake Flavor______Icing ______

Cupcake Name ______

#3 – Cake Flavor______Icing ______

Cupcake Name ______

#4 – Cake Flavor______Icing ______

Cupcake Name ______

#5 – Cake Flavor______Icing ______

Cupcake Name ______

#6 – Cake Flavor______Icing ______

Cupcake Name ______

Selling the Cupcakes

How much are the ingredients going to cost you all together? ______

How much will you charge for one cupcake? Explain why you picked the price.

______

Write an equation that can be solved to determine how many cupcakes you would need to sell at this price to make back the money you spent on ingredients

______

Solve the equation. Explain what your answer means.

______

Time to Make Money

You’ve decided upon a selling price, so now it’s time to figure out how many cupcakes you need to sell in order to start putting money in the bank.

You already figured out that you need to sell _____ cupcakes to make back the money you spent on ingredients. Write an inequality that can be solved to determine how many cupcakes you need to sell in order to make at least $100 in profit.

______

Solve the inequality you just wrote and explain what your answer means in the context of the problem.

______

Would selling 120 cupcakes earn you at least $100 in profit? Explain why or why not.

______

Write an inequality that can be solved to determine how many cupcakes you would need to sell in order to make at least $1,000 in profit.

______

Solve the inequality and explain what your answer means in the context of the problem.

______

Would selling 450 cupcakes earn you at least $1,000 in profit? Explain why or why not.

______

More Expenses!

Business is really taking off which is great! However, that also means you have more expenses now. In addition to the cost of ingredients (right now you spend the same each month) you now have the following monthly bills:

· Advertising - $220 per month

· Staff - $9.75 per hour for each person. You have 2 people working for you who each work 20 hours per week.

· Specialty cupcake wrappers - $3.75 for a pack of 100.

How much do you spend every four weeks on salaries for your staff?

______

How much do you spend on cupcake wrapper each month?

Remember that you will be making 50 dozen of each of the 6 cupcakes during the month. First determine how many cupcakes you make each month to determine how many wrappers you use.

______

What is your new monthly operating cost? (This will include the cost of the ingredients, and the three new monthly expenses.)

______

Write an inequality that can be solved to determine how many cupcakes you would need to sell in order to pay yourself back for the monthly expenses you have now.

______

Solve the inequality and explain what your answer means in the context of the problem.

______

Are you making enough cupcakes each month to handle your monthly expenses? Explain.

______

Head of Sales

· Design a flyer to help bring business to your store.

· Be sure the flyer is neat, eye-catching and includes important information about your business.

Head of Display

· Design the menu board that will be displayed in your store.

· You want the board to be neat so customers can read it. You also want the cupcake names and flavors to be shown, along with prices.

Head of Baking

· Choose one of your six cupcakes. You will bake and decorate one dozen cupcakes to present and share with your class.

· The cupcakes should be a representation of what you would sell in your store.

Project Checklist:

· Completed packet including all neatly written calculations, ingredients, prices, etc.

· Business Flyer

· Menu Board

· 1 dozen cupcakes (the day of presentation)