Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v5 - Grade 4

Lesson Video

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Performance objectives

• Identify and represent simple fractions.
• Compare fractions with the same denominator.
• Solve practical word problems with fractions.
• Understand a fraction as part of a whole or group.
• Explain what a numerator and denominator are.

Lesson summary

Fractions are a fundamental part of mathematics and understanding them is essential for navigating everyday life. From sharing a slab of chocolate with your friends to measuring ingredients while baking koeksisters, fractions are all around us! In this week's lesson, we will focus on understanding simple fractions and how they appear in our daily experiences in South Africa. We will explore how to identify fractions, represent them visually, and solve practical problems involving fractions in real-world contexts. Understanding fractions well now will help you greatly in future maths lessons and in solving problems you encounter every day.

Lesson notes

What is a Fraction? A fraction represents a part of a whole or a part of a group. Think of it as a way to divide something into equal pieces.

A fraction has two main parts: Numerator: The top number of the fraction. It tells you how many parts you have.

Denominator: The bottom number of the fraction. It tells you the total number of equal parts the whole is divided into.

We write a fraction as: Numerator / Denominator Example 1: Sharing a Koeksister Imagine Mama bakes a delicious koeksister, and she wants to share it equally with her two children, Thando and Zola. She cuts the koeksister into two equal pieces. Each child gets one piece. The whole koeksister is divided into 2 equal parts (denominator). Thando gets 1 part (numerator). So, Thando gets 1/2 (one-half) of the koeksister. Zola also gets 1/

2. Example 2: A Group of Marbles A bag contains 5 marbles: 2 are blue, and 3 are red. The total number of marbles is 5 (denominator). The number of blue marbles is 2 (numerator). So, the fraction of blue marbles is 2/5 (two-fifths).

Example 3: Representing Fractions with Diagrams Let's represent 3/4 (three-quarters) using a rectangle. Draw a rectangle. Divide the rectangle into 4 equal parts (because the denominator is 4). Shade 3 of the parts (because the numerator is 3). The shaded part represents 3/

4. Comparing Fractions with the Same Denominator When fractions have the same denominator, it's easy to compare them. The fraction with the larger numerator is the bigger fraction.

Example 4: Comparing Fractions Which is bigger: 2/5 or 4/5? Both fractions have the same denominator (5). Since 4 is bigger than 2, 4/5 is bigger than 2/

5. Example 5: Fractions in Measuring Ingredients Grandmother uses 1/4 cup of sugar for her tea and 3/4 cup of sugar for the whole cake. Which amount is more? Both fractions are in "quarters", meaning they are both out of

4. Since 3 is more than 1, 3/4 of a cup is more than 1/4 of a cup. The cake needs more sugar than the tea. Guided Practice (With Solutions)

Question 1: A pizza is cut into 8 slices. Sipho eats 3 slices. What fraction of the pizza did Sipho eat?

Solution: Total slices (denominator): 8 Slices Sipho ate (numerator): 3 Fraction: 3/8 Sipho ate 3/8 of the pizza.

Question 2: Lindiwe has a chocolate bar with 5 equal blocks. She gives 2 blocks to her friend. What fraction of the chocolate bar did Lindiwe give away?

Solution: Total blocks (denominator): 5 Blocks given away (numerator): 2 Fraction: 2/5 Lindiwe gave away 2/5 of the chocolate bar.

Question 3: Which is larger, 1/3 of an orange, or 2/3 of the same orange?

Solution: Both fractions have the same denominator of 3, therefore we only need to compare the numerators. 2 is larger than 1, so 2/3 is larger than 1/

3. Question 4: A garden is divided into 10 equal sections. 4 sections have roses planted. What fraction of the garden is planted with roses?

Solution: Total sections (denominator): 10 Sections with roses (numerator): 4 Fraction: 4/10 The fraction of the garden planted with roses is 4/

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0. Independent Practice (Questions Only) A birthday cake is cut into 10 equal pieces. You eat 2 pieces. What fraction of the cake did you eat? A farmer has 8 cows. 5 of them are brown. What fraction of the cows are brown? Draw a circle and divide it into 4 equal parts. Shade 1 part. What fraction does the shaded part represent? Which is smaller, 2/5 or 1/5? You have a packet of sweets with 6 sweets inside. You give half of the sweets to your brother. How many sweets did you give to your brother? Represent this as a fraction. Mom baked 12 cookies. 1/3 of them were burnt. How many cookies were burnt? Grandpa has 10 chickens. If 3/10 of the chickens are white, how many white chickens does Grandpa have? A bookshelf has 8 books. 1/4 of the books are maths textbooks. How many maths textbooks are there? Sarah and Peter each have a sandwich that is the same size. Sarah eats 2/8 of her sandwich, and Peter eats 5/8 of his sandwich. Who ate more? You and a friend are sharing a packet of crisps with 10 crisps in it. You decide to divide it equally. What fraction of the crisps do you each get?