Picturing Equivalent Fractions
Overview
This resource is a Mathematics student activity that utilizes Utah's Online Library resources - specifically, eMedia - to help students understand equivalent fractions.
About Utah's Online Library
Utah's Online Library provides Utah educators and students free access to high-quality reference collections such as EBSCO, Gale Reference Collection, World Book, eMedia, and LearningExpress Library.
This activity was designed to help educators utilize this amazing resource in their classrooms.
Note: Utah educators and students visiting Utah's Online Library from a school computer should be automatically authenticated. When at home, students must use the home access login which their teacher or school media specialist can provide. Utah educators can use either their my.uen login or the home access login.
Activity
Essential Question: How can models help us understand equivalent fractions?
Sometimes it's really true that a picture is worth a thousand words. Help students visualize equivalent fractions by having them use your classroom digital camera or a classroom set of mobile devices (such as iPads) to snap photos of fractions they have created. With a partner, have students make a written plan for their fraction photos. Then, using supplies in your classroom, have them set up fraction scenarios and take photos. For example, 2/3 = 4/6. Students could create a setup of 2 red markers and 1 yellow marker (2/3 of the markers are red). Then students could have 6 fellow students stand in a row---4 girls and 2 boys (4/6 of the students are girls). Students could then put both fraction photos that they took into a program like Powerpoint to visually demonstrate their equivalent fraction photos. They could add appropriate sentences underneath each photo in the Powerpoint to clearly explain their fraction picture or they could have classmates try and ascertain the correct equivalent fractions.
Follow up the activity with a review of equivalent fractions from the excellent math videos located in Utah's Online Library's eMedia.
Curriculum Connections: