This chapter reinforces the understanding of the written form of a fraction. The interesting point is that the way we write the fraction describes:
- not only the size of the fraction,
- but also a way of getting to that size.
Just as we might consider different ways of getting to our destination when travelling, we might also consider whether there are different ways of getting to the desired fraction size. With a practical exercise of tearing up newspaper, it is shown:
- what equivalent fractions are,
- how they come about, and
- why we should bother about them.
Note: The little squares shown on most of the pages each show different ways of cutting the square into two halves. This is what equivalent fractions are all about: many ways of representing the same quantity. We might choose one square that does not contain so many twists and turns to be the simplest representation of halves. In a sense, that is what simplifying fractions aims to do.
This website presents extracts of each chapter in the related book called Fractions For Parents. The chapters are listed on the side of this page.
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