EDN110 Mathematics for Teaching: Sample of a reflection

Fractions? Who needs them?

I remember my difficulties with fractions at primary school and really it did not improve
through high school. I think it started when I wasn’t quite sure what the two numbers were
referring to, or was it one number represented by two numbers. I remember switching off that
time as more and more work on fractions made less and less sense. I was just not getting it.

Now fast forward some years and taking this unit, I am facing these memories again. Maybe I
can just bluff my way through and use the calculator? – can’t I?
Here! The calculator just did giving me the answer .I
didn’t even have to find the common denominator or do all that
converting from a mixed number to an improper fraction, both of
which I am hopeless at.

However, I really do want to unravel some of the difficulties I had

before and I don’t want to teach in the same way I was taught. I
need the kind of understanding of fractions that can connect to my
future students thinking. Here I go….

It may be a good idea to start off talking about fractions with this
idea of a whole using one object which can easily be divided
equally, and once this idea of a whole is understood, then the whole can be two or three or
any number of objects.

The example in class of three fifths of a whole was interesting. We can have three fifths of a
chocolate bar. As a visual learner, I found the following diagrams useful:

The tutor threw an interesting extension - we can have three fifths of three chocolate bars, as
in ; now how many chocolate bars would that be? Images of the dreaded multiplication
of fractions (or was it addition?) flashed, accompanied by a sense of reluctance to go any
further. Now… the suggestion to play around with the idea might help. Someone suggested
“just draw more” which I did:
And moving the white blocks from the third bar to fill the first two bars to make wholes:

Now I have:

I can see that three fifths of three makes one and four fifths. So .

The previous memorised algorithm to multiply when there is an ‘of’ makes more sense now.
In other words, means . From the diagram, I can also see that one and four fifths
is the same as nine fifths. So:

Further, I could also see that as a multiplication, which can be treated as a repeated
addition, i.e. . And there is no difference between and .

Now the nine fifths is an improper fraction which can be rewritten as a mixed number:

These ideas also pave the way for me to grapple with the technology. No longer do I just
press buttons without thinking. The conversion between and can be done with one
button on the TI-15 calculator. But it is no longer mystifying as I know the mathematics that
the calculator is doing: the calculator is just showing that there are two different ways of
thinking about the same fraction, but they both show the same number. I have used my
calculator a number of times to practice this idea.

Returning to the earlier task of and I could see that I couldn’t take thirds from halves
so I needed to have a common denominator. In order to think about that I had to understand
how equivalent fractions could help.
Haylock (2014, p. 210) helped me with the
idea of equivalent fractions. Having the same
type of fractions, a common fraction, as in
thirds and thirds, or fifths and fifths, makes it
easier to compare fractions, as well as to add
or subtract them.

I found the HOTmaths (2011) widget at right

helpful to see that various equivalent
fractions can all be represented by the same
point on a number line.

The Illuminations applet (National

Council of Teachers of Mathematics,
2011) here was also helpful for this idea,
allowing me to find equivalent fractions
and to make my own examples.

In the screen shot, I can now see that two

thirds and four sixths are equivalent
fractions and also that three sixths and a
half are equivalent fractions.

I returned to my TI -15 calculator to help me further understand equivalent fractions. I

entered the fraction 18/24, pressed Simp and was prompted to put in a number. Because two
is a factor of both the numerator and the denominator I pressed Simp two. The fraction 9/12
appeared. I pressed Simp again then entered three because it was a factor of both digits. The
result was ¾. I asked myself what is Simp and why and how does it work. I have to be able to
model this mathematics so I need to understand what is going on. I realised that pressing two
meant dividing the numerator and the denominator by 2/2. This makes sense because dividing
by 2/2 is the same as dividing by 1. I know that when you divide any number by one you get
the same number. That means that I can divide by any fraction that has the same numerator
and denominator and I do not change the value of the original fraction. I then started to think
about the types of fractions to use as examples which would give me the opportunity to use
Simp in different ways. For example with the fraction 18/24 when I pressed Simp I could
have pressed two then three, or I could have just taken one step and pressed six

Having the same type of fractions, a common fraction, as in thirds and thirds, or fifths and
fifths, makes it easier to add or subtract. For halves and thirds, using bar diagrams, we have:
It makes sense to split each half into 3 and each third into 2, as in:

So, we have a common sixth between the 2 fractions. In symbols:

For the half: and the seven halves are ;

For the third: and

Combining all of the above considerations, we have:

So it wasn’t that difficult after all, once I understood the basic ideas. I learnt some important
mathematics doing this work I didn’t know fractions can be seen in so many ways: first we
have parts of a whole and that the parts are equally divided. I used to think that a whole must
be one as in one pizza, one apple, one something. Now I know that it is not that simple. A
whole can be any collection of objects or amounts, such as half a kilogram of butter. For
example I might need to find three fifths of one, or a convenient number like five or ten, or it
could be an inconvenient number like three. I found the various ways of grappling with
fraction problems using diagrams particularly useful, not just for me as a student now but also
as a future teacher.
While I feel so much more confident now I am going to have to try some more examples with
a range of simple fractions using diagrams and materials. I need to feel confident that I can
stand in front of a class and clearly and confidently demonstrate and explain those ideas to
kids who did not “get it” like me. I k now that I can use some online resources to help me
model that mathematics. I also now feel more confident that I could explain how Simp on the
calculator works and also model how to find equivalent fractions without a calculator.

References
Haylock, D. (2014) Mathematics Explained for Primary Teachers (4th Ed.) London: Sage.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2011) Illuminations: Equivalent Fractions.

Retrieved 12 January from [Link]

HOTmaths (2011) Upper Primary: Fractions. Retrieved 16 January from

[Link] Cambridge University Press: Australia and New Zealand.