11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi
Am looking for ideas on the quickest way to get the correct answer on the following question as DD has pondered over it for much longer than she will have in the actual test & still got it wrong.

Which fraction has the largest value?

7/8 - Correct answer
3/4 - DD put this as answer
6/9
10/12
3/5

Is it just expected that the child should look at the question and be able to made an educated guess without working out?

Thanks in advance
Ann

Remove the obviously not fractions first, the remaining three have a fairly straight forward route to the common denominator of 24.
With fractions it is just a case of repetition before it sinks in, but really it is once again those pesky times tables that matter.

I would have done it by simplifying 6/9 and 10/12 then asking how much would be needed to make each fraction a whole one.
Draw circles and divide them into 8ths, quarters, thirds etc so your DD gets a better idea of sizes of fractions. She could then see that taking 1/8 away leaves more than taking away 1/4.

Thank you south bucks3 and russet.
Will go over with Dd over the weekend. I think the idea of drawing so she can visually see the sizes will work for her.
Thanks again.

The larger the number of pieces the cake is cut into, the smaller the slices. So 1/8 is a small slice that is missing and 1/4 is a bigger bit. Looking at the missing bit helps many children.

Try to do this way......(My son showed me- quick and easy)

First compare 7/8 and 3/4 in your head- quickly imagine 3/4 as 6/8 (doubling the denominator -for making same denominator), so you can see 7/8 and 6/8, and 6/8 i.e 3/4 is eliminated from the list.
Now looking at 6/9 and 10/12 make it 2/3 and 5/6 .... think 2/3 as 4/6 , so 6/9 is also eliminated from the list

Now observe 5/6 and 3/5 ...(making denominator same 25/30 and 18/30 ... so 3/5 is also eliminated)

The last remaining 7/8 and 5/6 (denominator same 21/24 and 20/24 ... so 5/6 is also eliminated
so the answer is 7/8

it does seem long, but when you do it , it does not take that long.

Hope this helps.

Jyoti.

Question is from GL pack 1 , paper 3 , question no 14