Maths Q help please

[Droftaw]

Odds are expressed as a fraction. Odds greater than evens are a top heavy fraction. Odds less than even are also a fraction.

£1 on a 7/2 horse would return a win of £3.50. (Plus the stake of £1 being returned)

With the sophistication of modern bookies, many are moving to decimal odds in some markets.

[Guest55]

They are not written as fractions from what I've seem - the numerator is not written upon the denominator.

[Surferfish]

They are not written as fractions from what I've seem - the numerator is not written upon the denominator.

Well if we're going to be strict about it, neither are they in the original question which was first posted.

Q. Arrange these in ascending order

2/6, 1/5, 2/7, 1/4

In fact the question makes no mention of the word 'fraction'. They could be bookies odds for all we know!

[PoppyPup]

Hi All,

Thank you for all your responses.

The 1/3.5 would not have been accepted at school as they need to show their working out/the method and my DD just told me “that’s not a fraction”.


The LCM is what threw the children ( inc my child) They had 10 questions to arrange and had no problems with the others. Finding the LCM of those was easier.

They would of not changed the numerator as its never been shown as a method to them. Looks like the method can be used but it’s not what the teachers are after.

So I guess, what it boils down to, is finding a quicker method of finding out the LCM of multiple numbers that may be in large numbers.

The teacher did say that this was a hard one.

Any quick tips for finding the LCM of multiple numbers. She hasn’t struggled with the others, just this one due to its large LCM.

I understand there may be other methods to get to the correct answer quickly, however, this a KS2 q for yr6 children and has to be approached in that manner, also, they need to show how they got to the answer, she knows what to do so I don’t want to confuse her correct method, just need to help her with finding larger LCM’s.

Thank you

[Guest55]

That's because this website does not allow fractions to be written properly ... if you look in textbooks or at exam papers they are written in the correct format. Betting odds aren't ...

[PoppyPup]

They are not written as fractions from what I've seem - the numerator is not written upon the denominator.

Well if we're going to be strict about it, neither are they in the original question which was first posted.

Q. Arrange these in ascending order

2/6, 1/5, 2/7, 1/4

In fact the question makes no mention of the word 'fraction'. They could be bookies odds for all we know!

Definitely fractions, apologies for not stating this clearly !

[Guest55]

[quote="PoppyPup"I understand there may be other methods to get to the correct answer quickly, however, this a KS2 q for yr6 children and has to be approached in that manner, also, they need to show how they got to the answer, she knows what to do so I don’t want to confuse her correct method, just need to help her with finding larger LCM’s.[/quote]
Sorry the teacher is wrong you do not have to change ALL the fractions into the same denominator; that is never required at KS2 or GCSE. If you look at what I posted three of them are obvious without changing them. Only 2/7 would need to be considered with one or two others.

Large LCMs are not needed at Primary.

[PoppyPup]

Ok, thanks Guest55,

Yes, I do see that 3 of the fractions are easy to order but in their books they have used the method of finding the LCM, changing the fractions appropriately and then ordering them.

As this one was a larger LCM perhaps it was a odd one.

Thank you all for your replies.

[Guest55]

Just because the book shows that method does not mean you have to do it all the time. I assure you that it is not always required if you explain why in other ways.

[RedPanda]

Sorry the teacher is wrong you do not have to change ALL the fractions into the same denominator; that is never required at KS2 or GCSE.

I've a feeling I'm going to regret this

The KS2 NC is geared up towards equivalent fractions. I'd suggest the approach the teacher took is compatible with this.

I have a problem with the question but that is a different matter.