Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v4 - JHS 1

Lesson Video

This page supports the lesson note with a companion video and a short classroom-ready summary.

For class groups and homework, share this lesson page so learners also get the summary, objectives, and full lesson context.

Performance objectives

• Define fractions, decimals, and percentages.
• Convert between these forms.
• Divide a quantity of money by a whole number.
• Solve real-life problems involving money.

Lesson summary

This lesson focuses on a very practical and important skill: dividing whole quantities by fractions. We encounter this situation often in our daily lives without even realizing it. Imagine you have a long piece of cloth for Kente weaving and you need to know how many smaller, equal pieces you can cut from it. Or imagine you have a certain amount of money and you want to share it by giving each person a fraction of a Cedi. This lesson will give you the mathematical tools to solve such problems accurately and confidently. Understanding this helps in cooking, business, carpentry, and sharing resources fairly in our communities.

Lesson notes

What Does It Mean to Divide by a Fraction?

Let's start with a simple idea. If I ask you, "How many GHS 2 notes are in GHS 10?", you would do `10 ÷ 2 = 5`. You are finding out how many times '2' can fit into '10'.

Now, let's use a fraction. If I ask, "How many half-cedi coins (50 pesewas or GHS 1/2) are in GHS 10?", we are asking `10 ÷ 1/2`. Think about it: In every GHS 1, there are two half-cedis. So, in GHS 10, there would be `10 x 2 = 20` half-cedis. So, `10 ÷ 1/2 = 20`.

Notice something interesting? Dividing by 1/2 gave the same result as multiplying by 2. This is the main secret to dividing by fractions! The Golden Rule: Keep, Change, Flip (Multiply by the Reciprocal)