Can Learning Fractions Be Made Easier?
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Skill with fractions is one of the key indicators of future success in mathematics for children. Being competent at calculating with and manipulating them is essential to succeeding in any field of science or mathematics including accountancy, medicine, chemistry, engineering and so on.
All science formulae require fractions knowledge to be used competently. This is also true of unit conversions using ratios, since ratios are just another form of a fraction.
Yet many people are never comfortable working with fractions. Ask a random group of adults what part of math they had the most trouble with and many of them will answer “fractions”. Almost all the rest will answer “algebra”.
Given the importance of the topic, what is the best way to teach fractions? I have been teaching junior high school students math for over eleven years and have tried many methods. The most successful so far has been to treat fractions as numbers right from the start.
Fractions are often shown as cakes, pizzas, biscuits, groups of ducklings; in fact they are presented as anything but numbers. The skill a of identifying part of a whole or group that a student learns with picture fractions does not carry over well to more advanced ideas like adding, subtracting, dividing and the like.
When fractions are treated as numbers they can be presented on a number line. This allows students to see the actual value of a fraction relative to other numbers. That makes converting mixed numbers to improper fractions and vice versa an easy task. It also allows the idea that a fraction such as one quarter has a real value of between zero and one.
When fractions are treated as numbers they are easier to teach and easier to learn. Two and three fifths may be a mystery to a child, but when that is translated into “two and a bit” the fraction suddenly becomes easier to locate and work with. By demystifying fractions they become less threatening which in turn also improves learning of the topic.
For free teaching tips, video tutorials, printable number lines and worksheets and more, visit the fractions section of my website, www.green-planet-solar-energy.com.
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