Cover lesson · RE · Year 8 · Intermediate

Calculating Proportions and Planning a Community Food Bank Budget

LNF: Numeracy → Financial literacy · DCF: Data and computational thinking → Data and information literacy

Name: Class: Date:

Cover teacher: you need no subject knowledge

What this practises: pupils explore religious teachings on charity (Zakah, Sewa and Langar, Agape and Tzedakah), calculate 2.5% Zakah contributions on 4 savings examples using the £4,000 nisab threshold, scale a 3-day food parcel for a family of 4 within a £15.00 budget, and filter donated food items against halal, kosher and vegetarian dietary rules.

Board: open the supply teacher presentation (/cover-lesson-resources/presentations/calculating-proportions-and-planning-a-community-food-bank-budget.html) for board slides, timers and spoken script.

Print: this worksheet (one per pupil) and the stimulus sheet “Cwm Teg Interfaith Community Food Pantry Pack” (one between two). No computers are needed. Calculators are helpful.

Run: 5 min settling starter · 5 min religious charity terms and 2.5% method · 10 min Step 1 Zakah calculations · 10 min Step 2 scaling the 4-person parcel and filtering donated items · 12 min Step 3 budget and religious justification · 5 min Step 4 database design check · 3 min plenary check. Total 50 minutes.

Collect: this named worksheet at the end of the lesson. Keep stimulus sheets for reuse.

Quick checks: Step 1 Zakah: Tariq (£6,000) = £150.00; Yasmin (£2,800) = £0.00 (below £4,000 nisab); Dr Nadia Khan (£12,000) = £300.00; Imran (£8,400) = £210.00; Total Zakah = £660.00 (44 parcels at £15). Step 2(a) scaled 4-person parcel costs: £3.20 + £3.00 + £2.40 + £3.40 + £2.60 = £14.60 (£0.40 under the £15.00 cap).

What you are doing

Faith communities across Wales often work together to run food banks and community pantries. In Cwm Teg, Muslim, Sikh, Christian and Jewish volunteers run an interfaith food pantry. You will calculate 2.5% Zakah contributions from 4 local donors, scale a nutritious 3-day parcel for a family of 4 within a £15.00 unit budget, filter stock items against religious dietary rules, and justify your budget and menu to the pantry trustees.

Key words

Step 1: Calculate 2.5% Zakah contributions (Nisab threshold = £4,000)

Use Section 2 of the stimulus sheet. First check whether each donor’s annual savings are at or above the £4,000 nisab. If Yes, calculate 2.5% (Savings × 0.025, or Savings ÷ 40). If No, write £0.00.

Donor Annual savings held for 1 year At or above £4,000 nisab? (Yes / No) Calculation / reason Zakah due (£)
1. Tariq (baker) £6,000 Yes £6,000 × 0.025 (or £6,000 ÷ 40) £150.00
2. Yasmin (apprentice) £2,800
3. Dr Nadia Khan (GP) £12,000
4. Imran (pharmacist) £8,400
Total Zakah donated to the Cwm Teg Pantry by all 4 donors £

If each family food parcel has a maximum budget allocation of £15.00, how many full £15.00 family parcels can the total Zakah fund pay for? Show your division: £__________ ÷ £15.00 = __________ parcels.

Step 2: Scale the 3-day parcel for a family of 4 and filter donated items

(a) Use Section 3 of the stimulus sheet to scale the 1-person 3-day parcel up for a 4-person family (multiply quantity and cost by 4):

Food item 1-person quantity 1-person cost 4-person family quantity (× 4) 4-person family cost (× 4)
1. Brown basmati rice 500g £0.80 2,000g (2 kg) £3.20
2. Red split lentils & chickpeas 1 pack / tin £0.75
3. Tinned chopped tomatoes & sauce 1 tin £0.60
4. Wholemeal pita & Scottish oats 1 pack £0.85
5. Fresh veg, apples & UHT milk 1 portion £0.65
Totals £3.65 £

Is the 4-person family parcel within the £15.00 budget cap, and how much money is left over per parcel? £15.00 − £__________ = £__________ spare.

(b) Dietary database filter: Read Section 4 of the stimulus sheet. Explain which religious dietary rules are broken by each of these three donated items:

Donated item Suitable for Halal, Kosher or Vegetarian parcels? (Yes / No) Exact ingredients that break the dietary rules
Item X: Tinned sausages
Item Y: Tinned beef stew
Item Z: Pink marshmallows

Step 3: Justify your budget and menu to the pantry trustees

Write a clear explanation (8 to 10 sentences) for the Cwm Teg Interfaith Pantry committee covering:

  1. How the £660.00 Zakah fund was calculated (including why Yasmin paid £0.00 Zakah) and how the £14.60 family parcel stays within the £15.00 unit budget.
  2. Why basing the core parcel on rice, lentils, chickpeas, fruit and vegetables respects Halal, Kosher and Sikh Langar vegetarian rules simultaneously.
  3. How the pantry puts Zakah (Islam), Sewa and Langar (Sikhism), Agape (Christianity) and Tzedakah (Judaism) into practice.

Step 4: Designing the pantry stock database

A volunteer suggests setting up the pantry stock spreadsheet with just one dietary column called Pork_Free (Yes/No). Using Item Y (Tinned beef stew) as an example, explain why that single column would fail to protect Muslim, Jewish and Sikh families, and state the three separate columns the spreadsheet needs instead.

Step by step

  1. 5 min Settling starter: read why the Sikh Langar is vegetarian and what the nisab is.
  2. 5 min Review Zakah (2.5%), Sewa, Agape, Tzedakah, Halal and Kosher.
  3. 10 min Step 1: calculate the 2.5% Zakah contributions for the 4 donors and total parcels funded.
  4. 10 min Step 2: scale the 3-day parcel for a family of 4 and filter Items X, Y and Z.
  5. 12 min Step 3: write your budget, dietary and religious justification for the trustees.
  6. 5 min Step 4: explain what columns the pantry stock database needs and tick the success criteria.
  7. 3 min Plenary: check your figures against the board before handing in your worksheet.

Success criteria

If you finish early