created by Michele Hinkle

What fraction of the candy is orange?

39

The

num

ber th

at te

lls

how

man

y e

qual

par

ts

are

desc

ribe

d is th

e

num

erat

or.

The number that tells

the number of equal

parts in the whole is

called the denominator.

A fraction is a way of representing part of a whole or part of a group.

The pizza has been cut into three equal parts. We call these thirds. A third is written as 1

3.

The whole pizza cut into three equal parts gives us thirds. Think about just one slice. We can write this using a

fraction13 .

Think about two slices. Two slices is two thirds. We can write two thirds as 2

3 .

The top number of the fraction tells us how many slices we have. We call it the numerator.

The bottom number tellsus how many parts in thewhole pizza. We call it thedenominator.

If all the pieces of a whole are present, we call that 1 whole.Since 6 slices of the cake are present, we can say that

66 = 1 whole

Here are all the fractions you can make from a cake cut into six slices.

36

Equivalent Fractions name the same amount.

1 2 42 4 and 8

are equivalent fractions.

0 112

0 1

0 114

34

24

48

18

28

38

58

68

78

To find equivalent fractions, you can multiply the numeratorand denominator of a fraction by the same nonzero number.

25 =

2 x 2 5 x 2

= 410

25 =

2 x 35 x 3 =

615

25

=

Compare12

and37

1. Multiply

12

x 33

= 36

2. Compare

36

and 37

Since 36is not the same as3

7

these fractions are not equivalent

,

• A fraction is in simplest form when its numerator and denominator have no common factors other than 1.

1 Divide the numerator and the denominator by a

common factor.

618

÷= 618÷

33

= 26

2Keep dividing by commonfactors until the only common

factor is 1.

3 is a common factor of 6 and 18.

26

= 26

÷÷

22

= 13

2 is a common factor of 2 and 6.

1 and 3 have no

other common

factor greater than 1.