Study guide: Fractions as Parts and Numbers
Name, locate, compare, and recognize equal fractional amounts of a whole.
Ideas to explain in your own words
- Explain numerator and denominator using equal-sized parts.
- Use equal intervals from zero to locate a fraction.
- Compare fractions with the same denominator and same whole.
- Recognize equivalent fractions using matching models.
Watch your reasoning
- There are eight equal parts in the whole and three shaded parts, so the fraction is 3/8. The five unshaded parts would be 5/8.
- Each interval is 1/6 of the unit. Five intervals from zero give 5/6, less than the whole 6/6 = 1.
- Both amounts count sixths of the same whole. Three sixths uses fewer equal parts than four sixths, so 3/6 < 4/6.
- Three shaded parts and three unshaded parts divide the strip into two equal amounts. Therefore 3/6 = 1/2.
A worked review example
Name a Fraction of a Whole: One shaded box in four equal boxes is 1/4 of that strip. The 4 counts all equal parts; the 1 counts shaded parts. Locate a Fraction on a Number Line: Three one-sixth moves total 1/6 + 1/6 + 1/6 = 3/6. The third tick after zero is halfway to 1 because three of the six intervals have been covered. Compare Fractions Made of the Same Parts: Two eighth-pieces cover less than five eighth-pieces: 2/8 < 5/8. The difference is three pieces, or 3/8 of the matching whole. Show One Half in Two Ways: 1/2 = 2/4 because one half covers exactly two fourths of the same whole. Three of six equal parts also cover half: 3/6 = 1/2.
Make a practice plan
- Try the supplied lesson problems without looking at the answers.
- Compare your method with the worked examples and explain any correction.
- Use the new review cases, then complete the transfer task on paper or in your own document.