ADDING AND SUBTRACTING FRACTIONS:

WORD PROBLEMS
CCSS:
CCSS.NF.2 Solving word problems relating to the addition and
subtraction of fractions with unlike denominators.
Background:
This lesson will have students practicing addition and subtraction of
fractions and mixed numbers with unlike denominators, but it will
focus on teaching them to solve the problems in word format. The
students will also use their knowledge of fraction equivalency to
assess whether and answer is reasonable. To do this accurately,
students will be first estimating answers to word problems, then
solving the problems and comparing them to their estimate.
Engage:
Bring the students into group and start the lesson off by asking them
where they think they would use fractions in everyday life. Have the
students think of places they see fractions or ways they would use
them, in hobbies, at home, school, etc. See how many ideas they can
come up with here are a few ideas the students may come up with.
Money/change; sewing amounts of fabric, how to cut up fabric into
pieces; cooking; time/time spent doing something; distances run,
walked, or biked. After the students come up with ideas, lead into
solving fractions with word problems. It is a good idea to have the
discussion beforehand because the students will be reading word
problems with situations including some of the ideas they just will
have talked about.
Explore:
Pose a problem: Greta and Sam were making cookies and cupcakes
for the bake sale. The cookie recipe needed 2 cups of flour and the
cupcakes needed 3 cups. How much flour did they need to buy in
all? Before you solve the problem, talk to the students about word
problems and ask them what information we need to know from the
problem. When you start to solve, start with estimation. First, talk
about estimation and have the students try to estimate the total
amount of flour they need to buy to bake their cookies and cupcakes.
Then, have the students work through the problem and find out the
actual answer.
Use this to lead into a discussion about why you would need to know
how to estimate fractions.
Try one more problem together:
Peter is recycling water bottles he found around school, but some of
them arent empty. He finds 1 water bottle with 1/8 cup water in it,
another with 2/6 cup water in it, and a third with cup water in it. If
he poured all the water into 1 container, how many cups of water
would he have?
For more advanced students, give them the last page of the lesson
with challenge problems, or the enrich page from the GoMath lesson
for extra practice. They can also spend more time with the algebraic
algorithm for story problems.
Explain:
Have students work independently, partners if support is needed, on
numbers 2, 3, and 4 on page 403 from their GoMath book. Check
when completed. For struggling groups, try more problems together,
or work through the steps as they complete the math. If students are
successful, release them from group. Keep struggling students for
another round of group and have them practice additional word
problems.
Elaborate:
Have students work on a fraction worksheet from the Play Book
section, try out a new game, work on Personal Math Trainer.
Start homework problems: Page 405: 2-6, 406 (1-4).
Evaluate:
Before the end of class, each student needs to make up a word
problem of their own, solve it (to see if it makes sense), then trade
with a partner and solve each others problem.
 Extra Practice
1. Lucy bought 1 yards of fabric for a big sewing project. She needs
5/6 of one yard for a part of the project, how much will she have left
over for the rest of her project?

2. Spencer spent hour riding his bike, hour playing tag, and 5/6
of an hour riding his bike. His mom said he had 2 hours to play
outside before dinner.
Estimate how much time he spent playing outside. _______________
How much time did he actually play outside for? _______________
Was Spencer home in time for dinner? Yes / No

3. Jason decided to make a fruit salad for an after school snack. He

put in 2/3 cup of strawberries, 1/8 cup blueberries, and cup
pineapple.
Estimate how much fruit he used. _____________
How much fruit did Jason use? _____________

4. Our class is having a pizza party, but we need to figure out how
much food to buy. We have 25 students, and each will get 1 slices
of pizza. If the pizzas are cut into 8ths, how many pizzas will we need
to buy? ____
Will there be any extra slices? ______________