Fractions - Fractions of an Amount - Presentation

In a comprehensive lesson on fractions, students delve into the concept of finding fractions of amounts. The lesson begins with a rule-establishing discussion where students are prompted to complete a stem sentence that encapsulates the method for calculating fractions of an amount: divide by the denominator and multiply by the numerator. This foundational rule is applied in a series of activities where students practice finding various fractions of given amounts. For instance, to determine one-fifth of 30, they divide 30 by 5 to get 6, and thus, one-fifth of 30 is 6. This method is consistently used with different numerators and denominators, reinforcing the process through repetition and variation.

Extending the learning further, students are encouraged to draw bar models to visually represent and solve fraction problems, such as finding three-eighths of 2 cm or five-ninths of 180 litres. This visual approach aids in understanding the partitioning of amounts into fractional parts. The lesson also includes reasoning activities that challenge students to write problems that match a given bar model and to solve real-world scenarios, such as determining the number of brown horses in a yard given a fraction, or the total number of children in a class based on the fraction representing girls. Additional discussions and independent work tasks encourage students to consider the division of quantities into equal groups, understand the relationship between fractions and amounts, and convert units to facilitate easier calculations, such as converting metres to millimetres or kilograms to grams.