Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v5 - Grade 3
Fractions: halves, thirds and quarters – Week 1 focus
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Fractions: halves, thirds and quarters – Week 1 focus
Download the Lessonotes Mobile South Africa app for faster lesson access on Android and iPhone.
Subject: Mathematics
Class: Grade 3
Term: 2nd Term
Week: 1
Theme: General lesson support
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Welcome, Grade 3 learners! This week, we're diving into the exciting world of fractions! Specifically, we'll be focusing on halves, thirds, and quarters. You might be wondering, "Why do I need to learn about fractions?" Well, imagine sharing a slab of chocolate with your friends, dividing a pizza fairly, or measuring ingredients for a delicious malva pudding with your grandmother. Fractions are everywhere in our daily lives, helping us share things equally and understand parts of a whole. Learning fractions will help you become amazing problem solvers, ready to tackle real-life situations in our beautiful South Africa.
A fraction is a part of a whole. Imagine a delicious, round biltong pizza. If you cut it into pieces, each piece represents a fraction of the whole pizza.
Whole: The entire object or amount (e.g., the whole pizza, the whole chocolate bar).
Equal Parts: Fractions only work if the whole is divided into parts that are exactly the same size.
Numerator: The number on top of the fraction line. It tells you how many parts you have.
Denominator: The number below the fraction line. It tells you how many equal parts the whole is divided into. Let's explore halves, thirds, and quarters in detail: a)
Halves (1/2): When you divide something into two equal parts, each part is called a "half". The fraction for a half is written as 1/
2. The denominator (2) tells us the whole is divided into 2 parts. The numerator (1) tells us we are looking at one of those parts.
Example 1: Imagine you have a boerewors roll. You share it equally with your best friend. You each get one half (1/2) of the roll.
Example 2: Draw a square. Divide it into two equal rectangles. Colour one rectangle. You have coloured 1/2 of the square. b)
Thirds (1/3): When you divide something into three equal parts, each part is called a "third". The fraction for a third is written as 1/
3. The denominator (3) tells us the whole is divided into 3 parts. The numerator (1) tells us we are looking at one of those parts.
Example 1: You and two friends are sharing a packet of Simba chips equally. You divide the packet into three equal shares. Each person gets one third (1/3) of the packet.
Example 2: Draw a circle. Divide it into three equal sections, like a peace sign. Colour one section. You have coloured 1/3 of the circle. c)
Quarters (1/4): When you divide something into four equal parts, each part is called a "quarter". The fraction for a quarter is written as 1/
4. The denominator (4) tells us the whole is divided into 4 parts. The numerator (1) tells us we are looking at one of those parts. Another word for a quarter is "one-fourth." Example 1: You have a chocolate bar with four squares. You eat one square. You have eaten one quarter (1/4) of the chocolate bar.
Example 2: Draw a rectangle. Divide it into four equal squares. Colour one square. You have coloured 1/4 of the rectangle. Important
Note: The parts must be equal. If you divide a pizza into one big slice and three tiny slices, those are not quarters! Those are just uneven slices. Fractions are about fair shares. Guided Practice (With Solutions)
Question 1: Nomusa has a packet of 6 biscuits. She wants to give half of them to her brother, Thando. How many biscuits will Thando get?
Solution: Understanding the problem:* We need to find half of
6. This means dividing 6 into two equal groups.
Method:* Divide the total number of biscuits (6) by the denominator (2). 6 ÷ 2 = 3 Answer:* Thando will get 3 biscuits.
Question 2: Sipho baked a round vetkoek. He wants to share it equally with two of his friends. What fraction of the vetkoek will each person get?
Solution: Understanding the problem:* Sipho and his two friends make a total of three people. The vetkoek needs to be divided into three equal parts.
Method:* Since there are three people, each person will get one out of three parts, which is one third.
Answer:* Each person will get 1/3 of the vetkoek.
Question 3: Fatima has a square piece of paper. She folds it in half and then in half again. When she opens it up, into how many equal parts will the paper be divided? What fraction does each part represent?
Solution: Understanding the problem:* Folding in half once creates two parts. Folding in half again divides each of those parts in half as well.
Method:* First fold makes 2 parts.
Second fold doubles the number of parts: 2 x 2 = 4 Answer:* The paper will be divided into 4 equal parts. Each part represents 1/4 of the paper.
Question 4: Draw a rectangle. Divide it into thirds. Shade two thirds of the rectangle. What fraction of the rectangle is shaded?
Solution: Understanding the problem:* We need to visually represent thirds and then shade a specified amount.
Method:* Draw a rectangle. Divide it into three equal columns. Shade two of those columns.
Answer:* 2/3 of the rectangle is shaded. (The learners do need to show this graphically) Independent Practice (Questions Only) David has an orange. He cuts it into two equal pieces. What fraction represents each piece? A pizza is cut into 4 equal slices. John eats one slice. What fraction of the pizza did he eat? Draw a circle and divide it into quarters. Colour 3/4 of the circle. Thandi has 9 sweets. She wants to give 1/3 of them to her sister. How many sweets will her sister receive? Grandmother bakes a cake and cuts it into 3 equal pieces. She gives one piece to Zola. What fraction of the cake does Zola receive?
Complete the sentence: When something is divided into four equal parts, each part is called a ________. Sarah has a chocolate bar with 4 blocks. She eats two blocks.