Fractions

Imagine you have a whole pizza in front of you.

What's a Fraction?

A fraction is just a way to talk about pieces of something whole. When we share a pizza by cutting it into equal pieces, each piece is a fraction of the whole pizza.

Let's Cut Some Pizza!

1 WHOLE

2 HALVES

Cut into 2 pieces: Each piece = 1/2 (say "one half")
You get a nice big slice!

4 QUARTERS

Cut into 4 pieces: Each piece = 1/4 (say "one fourth")
Still a good size slice

8 EIGHTHS

Cut into 8 pieces: Each piece = 1/8 (say "one eighth")
Now the slices are getting smaller!

Reading Fractions is Easy!

Top number (3) = How many slices you took
Bottom number (4) = How many slices the pizza was cut into

So 3/4 means: "I took 3 slices from a pizza cut into 4 pieces"

So Which Slice is Bigger?

Think about it: If you're really hungry, would you rather have 1/2 of a pizza or 1/8 of a pizza?

1/2 is bigger! Because when you cut a pizza into only 2 pieces, each piece is much bigger than when you cut it into 8 pieces.

Quick Trick: The bigger the bottom number, the smaller the piece!

Try This: If you and 3 friends share a pizza equally, each person gets 1/4. But if just you and one friend share it, each gets 1/2. Who gets more pizza?

Time Fractions

Every hour has 60 minutes to divide!

Quarter past

The minute hand moved from 12 to 3

Half past

The minute hand is pointing at 6 now

Three-Quarters Past

The minute hand is now at 9!

Did you notice? Could we have written the same fractions as 3/12, 6/12, 9/12 as well (because those are the numbers on the clock?)