Quick take on action with fractions

URL: http://msteacher.org/epubs/math/QuickTakes/Fractions.aspx

1007936

Really understanding what fractions are, how they fit on the number line, and how to operate with them-add, subtract, multiply, divide-is central to learning decimals and percentages. According to the NCTM Principles and Standards, students in the middle grades should be expected to acquire a deeper understanding of fractions, decimals, and percents and an increased flexibility in using them to solve problems. Yet students may reach even the higher grades of middle school without a firm grasp of fractions. Perhaps a change in strategy could help? Lets offer compelling visuals and hands-on manipulation of those fractured numbers!

Summary

Subject keyword(s)	Arithmetic, Education, Fractions, Mathematics, Number and operations, Percent, Process skills, Ratio and proportion, Visualization
Grade level	Middle School, Informal Education, Vocational/Professional Development Education
Intended audience	Educator, Learner
Resource type	Instructional Material
Resource format	text, text/html
Rights	Copyright June 2006 - The Ohio State University.

Found in collection(s)

Click on the logo to get more information about the collection.

Title	Middle School Portal: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2)
Link	http://msteacher2.org/
Description	The Middle School Portal 2: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2) supports middle grades educators with high-quality, standards-based resources and promotes collaboration and knowledge-sharing among its users. Educators use MSP2 to increase content knowledge in science, mathematics, and appropriate pedagogy for youth ages 10 to 15. MSP2 employs social networking and digital tools to foster dynamic experiences that promote creation, modification, and sharing of resources, facilitate professional development, and support the integration of technology into practice. MSP2 is a project of the Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology, National Middle School Association, and Education Development Center, Inc., and is funded by the National Science Foundation. The partners integrate resources, tools, and services across projects, and support multiple methods of resource discovery to meet the needs of this audience.
	Full description and distribution of resources

Content contained within the resource

Home Math Pathway Science Pathway Project Partners Search Entire Site Math Pathway Science Pathway for Quick Take on ... Action with Fractions! Really understanding what fractions are, how they fit on the number line, and how to operate with them-add, subtract, multiply, divide-is central to learning decimals and percentages. According to the NCTM Principles and Standards, students in the middle grades should be expected to acquire a deeper understanding of fractions, decimals, and percents and an increased flexibility in using them to solve problems. Yet students may reach even the higher grades of middle school without a firm grasp of fractions. Perhaps a change in strategy could help? Let's offer compelling visuals and hands-on manipulation of those fractured numbers! Visual Fractions,br/> http://www.visualfractions.com/index.htm A thorough tutorial on the topic—from identifying and comparing fractions to operations with them! Students work through interactive exercises and games. A complete step-by-step, illustrated explanation of each subtopic is included. Don't miss the game of Finding Grampy, where students practice finding a mixed number in lowest terms as they look for Grampy on the number line.   Fraction Sorter http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/fracsorter/index.html Using this online manipulative, students represent two to four fractions—such as 7/13, 2/7, 8/9, and 2/3—by dividing and shading areas of squares or circles. They then order the fractions from smallest to largest on a number line. The visual representation here is powerful.   National Library of Virtual Manipulatives http://matti.usu.edu/nlvm/nav/index.html Under the middle school offerings, you will find the activity Adding Fractions. Students must do the usual exercise of finding equivalent fractions with common denominators, but here the fractions are represented visually as portions of a square. Once the computer checks that the fractions are correct, the students can drag the representations into a third box and enter the sum of the fractions. This is a learning experience! There are other activities on fractions as well, all worth checking out.   The Maths File Game Show http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/mathsfile/index.shtml This BBC site offers a game that requires players to match fractions with equivalent decimals or percentages, Go to Saloon Snap. When a question is answered correctly, the player can move his or her piece across the board. The goal is to be the first to create a path across a 10-by-10 grid. It's a real math exercise and it's motivating!   About | Funded by NSF | Contact This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.