Fraction Fun

today we worked on fractions in MAT1L. Our focus was on using relational rods (Cuisinaire rods) to represent and compare fractions. Before we got started we reviewed the vocabulary of numerator and denominator, and practiced saying the words out loud together. We talked about if the numerator and denominator are the same how that equals 1. It was great to see some prior knowledge bubbling up.

We used a concept circle with 1 being represented by a rod of length 12. We built equivalent fractions to the central “1” using different blocks. Here it shows that it takes 6 red blocks to build the 1, so we know that each red blocks is 1/6th.

We worked hard to represent each fraction

Next we looked for equivalent fractions by comparing lengths. We noticed that our magical multiplier is the same as the ratio between the blocks. Each 1/4 is split into 3, and each smaller portion is 1/12. It takes 3/12 to make 1/4.

we made some equivalents: 9/12=3/4. The blue rod is 3/4.

here’s another equivalence: 6/12=2/4=3/6 shown with the red, green and white.

we also noticed we could build rods of the same length. We have the blue which we already determined was 3/4 or 9/12 and to that we add a white which is 1/12, we know that 9/12+1/12=5/12+5/12. Each yellow is 5/12.

we had some success making fractions fun today. There were some thumbs up at the end of the class!