Year 6 fractions
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Year 6 fractions
DC had following question. All the others he could find equivalent fractions for but this stumped him. I told him to find the decimal, which worked but got into some fiddly long division I did not think a year 6 would be asked to do. Is there another way to find out this answer?
Which is bigger 1/3 or 24/32
Any help can you offer?
Which is bigger 1/3 or 24/32
Any help can you offer?
Re: Year 6 fractions
If you reduce 24/32 to 3/4 , it makes it much easier to compare them. (think of that proportion of a circle coloured in)
You can convert both to 12ths
1/3 =4/12 3/4 = 9/12
You can convert both to 12ths
1/3 =4/12 3/4 = 9/12
Re: Year 6 fractions
O ok yoyo123. Thank you. I think he is not used to simplifying one down and the other up. I will tell him to look out for all options. Thank you.
Re: Year 6 fractions
This one is a nice proportion question too - 1/3 is less than a half and 24/32 is more than a half.
It is good to get children to think of what the numbers represent as this will help with future ordering questions.
It is good to get children to think of what the numbers represent as this will help with future ordering questions.
Re: Year 6 fractions
Yes that is actually how he got his answer but I wanted him to know how to work it out and it was getting so fiddling.
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Re: Year 6 fractions
Azure wrote:DC had following question. All the others he could find equivalent fractions for but this stumped him. I told him to find the decimal, which worked but got into some fiddly long division I did not think a year 6 would be asked to do. Is there another way to find out this answer?
Which is bigger 1/3 or 24/32
Any help can you offer?
1/3 means 11/33
Any day 24 out of 33 is better (bigger) than 24 out of 32.
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Re: Year 6 fractions
They want him to simplify the second fraction rather than find a common denominator.
Re: Year 6 fractions
In my recent assessments of yr 6 children many of them converted all fractions in an ordering task rather than 'looking' and using common sense to eliminate the obvious candidates.
For a question where the fractions are obviously smaller / larger children should think before they automatically start to calculate. Reasoning is a vital mathematical skill.
For a question where the fractions are obviously smaller / larger children should think before they automatically start to calculate. Reasoning is a vital mathematical skill.
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Re: Year 6 fractions
If your DC doesn't want to simplify the fraction or find a common denominator, one can simply cross-multiply.
Numerator of first fraction (1) x denominator of second fraction (32) = 32, assign this number to fraction which numerator is used (1/3)
Numerator of second fraction (24) x denominator of first fraction (3) = 72, assign this number to fraction which numerator is used (24/32)
the bigger the product, the bigger the value of the fraction, which is 24/32 in this case!
Hope this helps.
Note: this method works for comparing two fractions at a time.
Numerator of first fraction (1) x denominator of second fraction (32) = 32, assign this number to fraction which numerator is used (1/3)
Numerator of second fraction (24) x denominator of first fraction (3) = 72, assign this number to fraction which numerator is used (24/32)
the bigger the product, the bigger the value of the fraction, which is 24/32 in this case!
Hope this helps.
Note: this method works for comparing two fractions at a time.
Re: Year 6 fractions
UKGarfield - your suggested 'method' is not appropriate for this question.
This question is designed to see who can spot one is bigger than a half and the other isn't; it's a great question! It really tests understanding not remembering a method.
This question is designed to see who can spot one is bigger than a half and the other isn't; it's a great question! It really tests understanding not remembering a method.