Mathematics in the Workplace Project By Amy Greer

Introduction I chose to research why a baker uses maths in their workplace because I wasn’t sure how much maths was involved, and when they would use it within their occupation. After doing research I discovered there was more maths included than I had thought, which showed me that even the creative and fun jobs use maths all the time!

Bakers A baker is a person who will mix and bake ingredients following recipes to make a variety of food items like bread and cake from scratch, which they then sell to the public in their bakery's or other stores and supermarkets. Most of the items they sell are; bread, cakes, biscuits, pastries and other baked foods. There are three types of bakers, these are; Plant Bakers – These people work for bread factories and use machinery to make bread products. Bakers who work in this type of area are in control of supplying 80% of the UK’s bread. In-Store Bakers – Produce bread and baked food items in a retail store, occasionally using already prepared or partly baked products from factories. They make bread using machinery but are also commonly trained in baking craft skills. Master/Craft Bakers – Normally employed from small independent bakeries or restaurant kitchens and are much more likely to bake from scratch than any of the other types of bakers. A craft baker might specialise in a particular type of baking or bread process and will give specialist goods and services, like cake decoration.

The Maths Skills Bakers Use Bakers use multiple different maths skills while working, but the main ones are; estimating and measuring, weights, temperature, timings and basic numeracy skills. When applying for a job as a baker, good numeracy skills are essential because a baker needs to be able to do many tasks involving the element of maths and counting, these are; Estimating, weights and measuring quantities – This is very important while baking because if a baker does not have the correct measurements and weights the food item will be out of proportion and will result in the food tasting or looking different. Temperature and timing – It is also very important to get the timing and temperatures right, other wise a baker could under cook or burn a product which would result in a financial loss to the business due to customer dissatisfaction. Basic numeracy skills – are needed to be a good baker because they have to think on their feet when addressing a customer’s total cost for the items they have bought, as well as being able to work out what the price of a product should be and leaving enough money to make a profit and cover the price of ingredients. The manager of the bakers will also have to divide the profit between their employees and make sure to pay the bills for running the bakery/factory.

The Maths Qualifications needed to be a Baker There are no maths qualifications needed to work as a trainee in a bakery, although if a baker is looking for a job, employers may ask for GCSEs in Maths, English, and/or food technology.

Conclusion After doing this project I have found out that maths is extremely important for bakers because of the amount of mathematical skills that are actually used regularly within the job. This has been a very interesting project and has showed me the importance of maths-even in the most unlikely jobs to involve so much of it. In conclusion, being a baker uses a lot more maths than I had first thought and it’s only when you think about it, you realise, maths comes into everyday jobs.

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