Fractions - Equivalent Fractions (2) - Presentation

In a series of educational slides designed for teaching equivalent fractions, students are encouraged to use bar models as a visual aid to deepen their understanding of the concept. Bar models are highlighted as an effective tool for exploring equivalent fractions, prompting students to consider why this representation is useful. The lesson includes hands-on activities where students fold two pieces of paper into different numbers of equal parts to discover equivalent fractions visually. For example, folding one paper into three equal parts and another into nine equal parts allows students to see the equivalence between fractions such as 1/3 and 3/9. Additional exercises guide students to use bar models to write out equivalent fractions, reinforcing the concept through visual learning.

The lesson progresses with activities that involve using multiplication and division skills to find equivalent fractions. Students, like the character Rosie in the slides, employ these operations to determine equivalent fractions with a given denominator, such as finding the equivalent of 1/5, 3/5, and 4/5 when the denominator is 30. Another character, Zach, demonstrates a similar approach, showcasing how to simplify fractions by dividing both the numerator and denominator. The lesson also includes reasoning exercises that challenge students to evaluate statements about finding equivalent fractions, such as whether Leanna's method of performing the same operation on both numerator and denominator is always valid, or if Zach's claim that only even-numbered fractions can be simplified is correct. Independent work rounds out the lesson, where students colour shapes to represent fractions and find the values of unknowns in equivalent fraction problems, applying the methods discussed in the lesson.