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Functional MathsFunctional MathsExploring Fractions.Exploring Fractions.

Functional MathsFunctional MathsExploring Fractions.Exploring Fractions.

Week 4

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Session Outcomes:• Be able to read, write, order and

compare common fractions.

• To identify equivalences between fractions, decimals and percent.

• To identify the relationship between fractions, decimals and percent.

• Add and subtract fractions

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What are fractions?• Fractions, decimals and percent are different

ways of representing an amount.

• I.e. We could say 50% of something, or ½ or 0.5. These are all the same quantity.

• Fractions are about sharing. You may like to think of them as ‘parts of a whole’.

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What are fractions?• A fraction describes part of

a whole when the whole is cut into equal parts.

• This pizza has been cut into three equal parts. We call these thirds. A third is written as:

• Think about two slices. Two slices is two thirds:

  

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Writing fractions?

• Look at the pictures below. How many parts are these shapes divided into? Represent these shapes as fractions.

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Converting between fractions, decimals and %:

A same value can be written in differentforms. For example:

½ 0.5 50%To convert a fraction into a decimal, divide the top of the fraction by the bottom of the fraction:

e.g. ½ = 1÷2 = 0.5

To convert a decimal into a percentage, multiply by 100:

e.g. 0.5 x 100 = 50%

Is the same as:

Is the same as:

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Converting between fractions, decimals and %:

Place the fraction, decimal and % cards into the correct blank spaces on the grid.

Fraction

Decimal

%

½ 0.5

¼ 25%

0.20

1/10 10%

0.75 75%

3/9

100%

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Fraction Decimal %

½ 0.5

¼ 25%

0.20

1/10 10%

0.75 75%

3/9

100%

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FRACTIONS IN SYMBOLS 

FRACTIONS IN WORDS

1 

 

½  

 

  

Quarter

1/5 

 

  

One third

  

Two thirds

1/10 

 

1/6 

 

  One tenth 

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Fraction Decimal %

½ 0.5 50%

¼ 0.25 25%

1/5 0.20 20%

1/10 0.1 10%

3/4 0.75 75%

3/9 0.333 33.3%

1/1 1.00 100%

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Why use fractions, decimals and %?

When might we use fractions:

• When telling the time (e.g. ¼ past).• In shop sales (e.g. a 1/3 off, ½ price).• When measuring (e.g. ½ a metre).• When dividing (e.g. 1 pizza divided

between 6 people).• In recipes (e.g. half a dozen).

When might we use decimals:

• When working with money.• To show probability, or the likelihood of

something happening.• To show how many whole and part

numbers there are to a value (e.g. 3.25 means 3 whole numbers and one quarter of a whole number).

When might we use %:

• Shops use percentages in sales.• Banks use them for loan rates,

mortgages, savings accounts..• Weather forecasts use them to tell us the chances of rain. • To calculate VAT and income tax.

When working in business we may choose between fractions, decimals and %s to make a sale item look more appealing to customers. For example, 20% off may sound more appealing than 1/5 off a sale item, even though they are really the same amount!

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Sharing Amounts

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Where can we find fractions?

Take a look at this article. Notice how fractions are used to explain and analyse the results of the survey.

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Fraction Decimal %

½ 0.5 50%

¼ 0.25 25%

1/5 0.20 20%

1/10 0.1 10%

3/4 0.75 75%

3/9 0.333 33.3%

1/1 1.00 100%