This investigation can be accessed at many different levels and
can be taken as far as you think is appropriate with your class.
The learning opportunities include:
- Understanding, recognising and using simple fractions of a
whole
- Finding fractions of shapes
- Relating fractions to division i.e. understanding that
finding one third is the same as dividing by 3
- Being able to divide fractions themselves i.e. one quarter
split into two equal pieces
- Beginning to divide by a fraction i.e. How many halves in
1?
- Recognising, explaining, generalising and predicting number
patterns
The activities will allow children to find out how to manipulate
fractions themselves, rather than be told a set of "rules". Their
understanding will be deeper as a result of this
self-discovery.
It is important that children understand first how to express
fractions - the idea of splitting one whole into more than one
equally sized pieces. Drawings of some kind are essential at this
stage. Circular pizzas could be cut out of (gummed) paper which
children could then fold into different fractions. Discuss how to
divide a circle into equal sized parts:
- Does it matter where we fold/draw the lines?
- What is important about these lines?
This pictorial representation may be useful all the way through
this activity.
Each stage of this investigation can be extended to consolidate
the ideas.
When asking pupils to write down mathematical expressions, you
may like to go right back to using just whole numbers. For
example:
- How could I write 4 pizzas shared between 2 people?
- So can you tell me how we could write 1 pizza shared
between 2?
- What about ½ pizza shared between 2?
In the third and fourth sections, children may offer division
or multiplication sums and this can lead into interesting
discussion in itself about the relationship between the two
operations.