Ratio Riddles

Built for the Minecraft Education and Cambridge Mathematics Partnership

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Lesson Overview

Subject Mathematics
Ages 8-14 (Grades 4, 6, 7)
Duration 45-90 minutes
Standards Common Core & UK National
Built For Minecraft Education & Cambridge
Languages 20+ Available

BlockBuilders created this world for the partnership between Minecraft Education and Cambridge Mathematics. Ratio Riddles transforms abstract mathematical concepts into tangible adventures. Through three progressive story-based games—Potion Commotion, Window Wiz, and Keep Off the Grass—students master ratios, proportions, and scale in an ancient temple setting where mathematical knowledge literally unlocks new areas and solves mystical puzzles.

Core Learning Objectives

Through immersive gameplay, students will master three essential mathematical concepts:

1
Understanding ratios as relationships between quantities
2
Applying proportional reasoning and scale factors
3
Solving real-world problems using fractions and ratios

The Three Story Adventures

Story 1: Potion Commotion

Mix different ratios of ingredients to create increasingly powerful potions. Use these potions to dive for coins in the mystical well, where success depends on getting the ratios just right.

Learning Focus:

  • Introduction to ratio notation (3:2, 3 to 2)
  • Visual representation using Minecraft blocks
  • Part-to-part and part-to-whole relationships

Gameplay: Mix ingredients in the correct ratios to create magical potions, with immediate visual feedback showing whether ratios are correct.

Story 2: Window Wiz

The architectural challenge begins as students help design stained glass windows for the ancient temple. This game introduces scaling and proportional reasoning through creative building.

Window Wiz stained glass

Create intricate stained glass window designs using ratio-based patterns

Scaling challenges

Scale your designs up and down while maintaining perfect proportions

Temple windows

Apply your window designs to different sized openings in the temple

Learning Focus:

  • Understanding and applying scale factors
  • Enlarging and reducing shapes proportionally
  • Cross-multiplication strategies

Story 3: Keep Off the Grass

The final challenge presents real-world landscaping problems where students must calculate areas, maintain ratios of grass to paths, and solve complex proportion puzzles to restore the temple grounds.

Landscaping overview

Plan temple grounds with the correct ratio of grass to pathways

Area calculations

Calculate areas and apply ratio concepts to real-world landscaping

Complex challenges

Solve increasingly complex multi-step ratio problems

Learning Focus:

  • Complex multi-step ratio problems
  • Combining fractions with ratios
  • Real-world application of proportional reasoning

Graduation Celebration

Graduation celebration

Upon completing all three stories, students celebrate their mathematical mastery in a grand graduation ceremony with Cambridge Mathematics professors acknowledging their achievements.

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