Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v5 - Grade 4
Fractions: simple fractions and everyday contexts – Week 6 focus
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Fractions: simple fractions and everyday contexts – Week 6 focus
Download the Lessonotes Mobile South Africa app for faster lesson access on Android and iPhone.
Subject: Mathematics
Class: Grade 4
Term: 1st Term
Week: 6
Theme: General lesson support
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This week, we delve deeper into the world of fractions! We'll explore how fractions are used every day in our lives right here in South Africa, from sharing food with family to measuring ingredients when baking a delicious malva pudding. Understanding fractions helps us share equally, understand recipes, and even manage our pocket money wisely. This week's focus is on recognizing, writing, comparing, and working with simple fractions (halves, quarters, thirds, fifths, eighths, and tenths) in the context of everyday situations. We will use pictorial representations and concrete objects to solidify our understanding.
What is a Fraction? A fraction represents a part of a whole or a part of a group. Think of it like sharing a pizza with your friends or family. The pizza is the 'whole', and each slice is a 'fraction' of that whole.
A fraction has two parts: Numerator: The top number. It tells you how many parts we are talking about.
Denominator: The bottom number. It tells you how many equal parts the whole is divided into. For example, in the fraction 3/4 (three-quarters): 3 is the numerator (we are talking about 3 parts). 4 is the denominator (the whole is divided into 4 equal parts). Visualizing Fractions It's helpful to visualize fractions. We can use circles, squares, rectangles, or even sets of objects to represent fractions.
Example 1: Half (1/2) Imagine you have a loaf of bread (a whole loaf). If you cut it exactly in half, you have two equal pieces. Each piece is 1/2 (one-half) of the loaf. You can represent this with a circle cut into two equal parts, with one part shaded.
Example 2: Quarter (1/4) Think of a chocolate bar divided into 4 equal squares. Each square is 1/4 (one-quarter) of the bar. Imagine you eat one square. You have eaten 1/4 of the chocolate.
Example 3: Third (1/3) Imagine you share a koeksister equally between three friends. Each friend gets 1/3 (one-third) of the koeksister. Fractions of a Group Fractions can also represent part of a group of things.
Example 4: You have a packet of 10 marbles. 2 of the marbles are blue. What fraction of the marbles are blue? The answer is 2/10 (two-tenths) because 2 out of the 10 marbles are blue. We can simplify this to 1/5 (one-fifth) because 2 goes into 10 five times.
Example 5: A class has 20 learners. Half of the learners are girls. How many girls are there? To find half of 20, we divide 20 by 2. 20 / 2 =
1
0. Therefore, 10 learners are girls. So, 1/2 of 20 is
1
0. Comparing Fractions with the Same Denominator When fractions have the same denominator (the bottom number), it's easy to compare them. The fraction with the bigger numerator (the top number) is the larger fraction.
Example 6: 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. We can write this as 4/5 > 2/5 (">" means "is greater than"). Working with Fractions in Everyday Contexts Let's look at some South African examples: Example 7: Sharing Biltong: Your family has a piece of biltong. You want to share it equally with your two siblings. You need to divide the biltong into three equal pieces. Each person (including you) gets 1/3 (one-third) of the biltong.
Example 8: Baking a Cake: A recipe for malva pudding calls for 1/4 cup of milk. This means you need to measure out a quarter of a cup of milk.
Example 9: Thandi's Tuckshop: Thandi has 10 lollipops in her tuckshop. She sells 3 lollipops. What fraction of the lollipops did she sell? She sold 3/10 (three-tenths) of the lollipops. Guided Practice (With Solutions)
Question 1: Draw a circle and shade 1/4 of it.
Solution: Draw a circle. Divide the circle into 4 equal parts. Shade one of the parts. The shaded part represents 1/
4. Commentary: This question focuses on the visual representation of a fraction and understanding that the whole must be divided into equal parts.
Question 2: Sipho has 8 oranges. He gives 1/2 of the oranges to his friend. How many oranges does he give to his friend?
Solution: We need to find 1/2 of
8. To find 1/2 of a number, we divide the number by 2. 8 / 2 = 4 Therefore, Sipho gives 4 oranges to his friend.
Commentary: This question combines the concept of fractions with division, reinforcing the idea of fractions as parts of a whole number of items.
Question 3: Which is bigger: 2/8 or 5/8? Explain why.
Solution: 5/8 is bigger than 2/
8. Both fractions have the same denominator (8), which means they are divided into the same number of equal parts. Since 5 is greater than 2, 5/8 represents a larger portion of the whole.
Commentary: This question tests the understanding of comparing fractions with the same denominator. The explanation reinforces the underlying reasoning.
Question 4: Nomusa has a chocolate bar divided into 5 equal pieces. She eats 2 pieces. What fraction of the chocolate bar did she eat?
Solution: Nomusa ate 2 out of the 5 pieces.
Therefore, she ate 2/5 (two-fifths) of the chocolate bar.
Commentary: This question tests the understanding of writing a fraction to represent a portion of a whole, using a relatable scenario. Independent Practice (Questions Only) Draw a rectangle and shade 2/3 of it. (Assume the rectangle is suitably divided) You have 10 sweets. You give 1/5 of the sweets to your sister. How many sweets do you give her?
Which is smaller: 3/10 or 7/10? Explain why. A pizza is cut into 8 slices. You eat 3 slices. What fraction of the pizza did you eat? There are 15 children in a class. 1/3 of them walk to school. How many children walk to school?
Compare these fractions: 1/2 and 1/
4. Which is larger? (Hint: Think about cutting a cake.