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Fraction Facts
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Abstract

The following discussions and activities are designed to introduce students to fractions, including operations with fractions, converting fractions to decimals and percents. The activities provide ample practice opportunities to reinforce the information from the discussions.

Objectives

Upon completion of this lesson, students will:

  • have learned about fractions and operations with fractions, namely addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
  • have learned to convert fractions to decimals and to percents

Standards Addressed:

Textbooks Aligned:

Student Prerequisites

  • Arithmetic: Student must be able to:
    • add and subtract whole numbers
    • work with simple fractions in lowest terms
  • Technological: Students must be able to:
    • perform basic mouse manipulations such as point, click and drag.
    • use a browser for experimenting with the activities.

Teacher Preparation

  • Access to a browser
  • pencil and paper

Key Terms

decimalShort for the term "decimal fraction", a decimal is another way to represent fractional numbers. The decimal uses place value to express the value of a number as opposed to a fraction that uses a numerator and denominator.
denominatorIn a rational number, the number below the fraction bar that indicates how many parts the whole is divided into. See also numerator
fractionA rational number of the form a/b where a is called the numerator and b is called the denominator
numeratorThe number above the fraction bar that indicates the number of parts of the whole there are in a rational number
percentA ratio that compares a number to one hundred. The symbol for percent is %

Lesson Outline

  1. Focus and Review

    Remind students what has been learned in previous lessons that will be pertinent to this lesson and/or have them begin to think about the words and ideas of this lesson:

    • Ask students if they remember how to reduce a fraction, such as 8/12 or 6/60.
    • Lead a discussion about fractions to review basic terminology and understanding.

  2. Objectives

    Let the students know what it is they will be doing and learning today. Say something like this:

    • Today, class, we will be talking more about fractions, and how to do basic math operations with them such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
    • We are going to use the computers to learn about fractions, but please do not turn your computers on or go to this page until I ask you to. I want to show you a little about this activity first.

  3. Teacher Input

    • You may choose to lead the students in a short discussion about comparing fractions, and then review with them how to add and subtract and multiply and divide fractions.
    • Be sure students are familiar with how to convert fractions into decimals, and how to round numbers.
    • When students have mastered working with fractions and decimals, demonstrate changing decimal numbers into percents.
    • Explain to the students how to do the assignment. You should model or demonstrate it for the students, especially if they are not familiar with how to use our computer applets.
    • Open your browser to Fraction Four in order to demonstrate this activity to the students.

  4. Guided Practice

    You may want to have students take turns giving answers to the problems and work through one or two games as a class until students are ready to try it on their own.

    If you choose to, you may also show students the Conversions tool, which converts fractions to decimals, and decimals to fractions.

  5. Independent Practice

    Allow the students to work in groups of two. Monitor the room for questions and to be sure that the students are on the correct web site.

  6. Closure

    You may wish to bring the class back together to discuss any problems that were especially hard for students to solve. Once the students have been allowed to share what they found, summarize once more the main points of the lesson.

Alternate Outline

This lesson can be rearranged in several ways if there is only one available computer:

  • Have students complete paper worksheets of problems with fractions, decimals and percents, and use Fraction Four as a reward for two students at a time who have showed proficiency in solving the problems on paper.
  • Alternatively, select students who need additional practice to use the game. Teams of one strong student and one who needs help work well with this activity.

Suggested Follow-Up

After completing this lesson, several lessons could be tackled. For example:

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