Recognizing Fractions

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Each equal piece is called a half.

A half is 1 of 2 equal parts.

You can write one half like this: ¹/₂.

The bottom number, 2, tells how many equal parts the whole cookie was split into.

The top number, 1, tells how many of those equal parts you have.

So, if the cookie is split into 2 equal pieces and you get 1 piece, you have ¹/₂ of the cookie.

Now, here come 2 more hungry friends. Uh-oh. The cookie situation just became serious.

You and your best friend each split your half into 2 equal pieces.

Now the cookie has 4 equal pieces.

Each equal piece is called a fourth.

A fourth is 1 of 4 equal parts.

You can write one fourth like this: ¹/₄.

The bottom number, 4, tells how many equal parts the whole cookie was split into.

The top number, 1, tells how many of those equal parts you have.

So, if the cookie is split into 4 equal pieces and you get 1 piece, you have ¹/₄ of the cookie.

Try It With Pizza

Picture a pizza.

If the pizza is not cut at all, it is 1 whole pizza.

If the pizza is cut into 2 equal slices, each slice is ¹/₂ of the pizza.

If the pizza is cut into 4 equal slices, each slice is ¹/₄ of the pizza.

The parts must be equal. That means each piece should be the same size.

If one friend gets a giant slice and another friend gets a tiny triangle, those are not equal parts. That is not a fair fraction. It is also a fast way to start a pizza argument.

Fractions show equal parts of a whole.

A whole can be one cookie, one pizza, one candy bar, one sandwich, one shape, or even one space on a number line.

Look at these examples.

One whole candy bar means you have the entire candy bar.

One half of a candy bar means the candy bar was split into 2 equal parts, and you have 1 of those parts.

One-fourth of a candy bar means the candy bar was split into 4 equal parts, and you have 1 of those parts.

Now think about these questions.

• What does ¹/₂ mean?

¹/₂ means 1 equal part out of 2 equal parts.

• What does ¹/₄ mean?

¹/₄ means 1 equal part out of 4 equal parts.

Great work!

Now move to the Got It? section to work with more fractions.