Lesson 1 – Introduction to fractions

Objectives:

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)  .