At the end of this lesson, students should be able to know what fractions are and work comfortably with them.
A fraction is a part of a whole. Consider the diagram below:
Example 1
Example 1 has been divided into four equal parts. When one part is coloured, it becomes:
One out of four because one out of the four boxes has been coloured. This is written as 1/4 (one – quarter)
Three out of the four parts have not been coloured. This is also written as .3/4 (Three quarters) have not been coloured.
Example 2
This circle has been divided into eight equal parts. Four out of eight have been shaded so the fraction of the shaded parts is 4/8 which is the same as half (1/2).
Four parts out of the eight parts have not been shaded. Therefore, the fraction of the un-shaded parts is also 4/8(half) .