Name:______________________________ Date:_____________

Fractions with Bar Models

There are many ways that we can represent fractions using models and drawings. Lets take a
look at the bar model approach to solving fraction problems.

Consider the problem: Jeremy biked

1
5
of a mile on Day 1. On Day 2 he biked

1
10
of a mile. What
fraction of a mile did he bike in all?

Step 1: Any whole entity can be represented by drawing a bar that represents the whole. Below,
draw a bar or rectangle that represents your whole. What is our whole in this problem? Label
the whole.








Step 2: What is the operation needed to solve our problem?


Our two fractions in the problem are

1
5
and


1
10.
In order to add our two fractions together we
need to get common ________________. Below rewrite the two fractions.




Step 3: Now, break up our whole bar into equal sized parts that are represented by the number
in the denominator. This is breaking up our whole or our 1 mile, into equal sized parts that we
will be able to add together.

Step 4: Label

1
5
on our bar model as Day 1. Count out how many pieces of our equal sized
parts we need for

1
5
.

Step 5: Do the same for

1
10
. Label this is Day 2.
Step 6: Now count up the parts of the whole labeled Day 1 and Day 2 to find out your final
answer. What fraction of a mile did Jeremy bike?

Directions: Using the bar model approach with labeling the whole and the fractions in the
problem, solve the following word problem.

Exercise 1: Gabby is wrapping presents for her friends birthday. She has three different sizes of
presents that she needs to tie ribbon onto. Present 1 requires

1
6
of a yard of ribbon. Present 2
requires

1
3
of a yard of ribbon and Present 3 requires

1
12
of a yard of ribbon. What fraction of a
yard of ribbon will Gabby need in order to wrap all of her presents?