Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

Module three
E Q U I V A L E N T F R A C T I O N S , p art one
Great job! You have done a lot of work to really understand the concept of fractions. Now it’s
time to move on to another big topic with fractions, equivalent fractions.

The first step is to get out your fraction pieces.

I really urge you to use the fraction pieces. The fraction pieces give you the powerful
effects of physical modeling, which enhances conceptual understanding. So—please trust
me on this, and use your fraction pieces. It will take an extra five to ten minutes, not
much time for the positive effects.

Note that for a fraction to be equivalent, the new

fraction must fit exactly over the original fraction
pieces. Close matches don’t count. __
1 __
1
__
2 __
1 4 4
As an example, 4 is equivalent to 2 .
Put them on top of each other, and see
that they exactly cover each other. __
1
2

Three looks at equivalent frac tions

Look 1 at equivalent fractions: Use your fraction pieces

Equivalent fractions are a very, very important concept in fractions. Like all concepts, we be-
gin with concrete objects. We will use fraction pieces for the concrete representation.

The word equivalent has the same sound as equal in it.

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Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

My name is Bernice German. Some people

call me the Math Whisperer, some call me the Math Whisperer
Bernice
Bernice, some call me Mrs. German, my
children call me Mom. They are all names
for the same person—me. The names are Mrs. German
Mom
different, but I’m the same person. Math
Whisperer is equivalent to Mrs German.

What other names do you have?

Here is another example. Say you have a dollar bill. This is equivalent to four quarters.

is equivalent to

__
1 __
1 __
1
Take out your pieces as well as the and
2 4 8 pieces.
__
1 and __2 have the same amount of surface. That is why
Area is the amount of surface.
2 4
they are equivalent. Two fourths has the same area as one half—there are just more pieces.

This is a picture of the situation:

is equivalent to
__
1 __
1 __
1
1 - for reference
2 4 4
One-half Two-fourths

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 Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

Remember the denominator tells us the number of pieces the one is cut into.
The numerator tells us the number of pieces we have.

__
1 1 __
__ 1
2 4 4
The one is cut into 2 pieces, The one is cut into 4 pieces,
so the denominator is 2. so the denominator is 4.
The numerator is 1. The numerator is 2.

Now it’s your turn. In the space below, use your fraction pieces to trace.
__
1 __
1
Trace a fraction piece. Then trace over it four fraction pieces.
2 8

__
1 ?
__
Based on your tracing, covers the same area as .
2 8
__
1 ?
__
So , is equivalent to .
2 8
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Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

Look 2 at equivalent fractions: Pizza

Joe gets four fourths.

Jo gets two halves.

Who gets more pizza, Jo or Joe?

The correct answer is that they get the same amount of pizza. Jo gets one giant slice that is
half of the pizza. Joe gets two big slices, each of which is one fourth of the pizza, for a total of
two fourths of the pizza. They get the same amount of yummy pizza.

If you want, you can tell your parent that the Math Whisperer says your homework is to check
this out for yourself by ordering two pizzas. Cut one in half, and cut the other into fourths.
Eat half of one, and two fourths of the other. Do you notice a difference?

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 Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

Look 3 at equivalent fractions: Algebra

In picture form:

The one has been divided into two

equal parts. Each is __
1 .
2

Now I divide each of the one halves

into four equal parts. Each of these
__
1
parts is __
1 .
8 8
__
1
8

There is an algebraic way to go from __

1 to __
4 . _______
1*4= 4
2 8 2*4= 8
Each of the halves was divided into four equal pieces.
(The pink half and the white half were each divided into four equal pieces.)
__
1 __
4
And we used a factor of 4 to go from to .
2 8

_______
1*4= 4
2*4= 8
Factor of 4

__
1
Is this a coincidence?! The original fraction piece ( ) divided into
2
four equal pieces, and a factor of 4?! Your mission, should you choose
to accept it, is to find out!

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Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

Ac tivit y 1: T wo looks at equivalent frac tions

How many equal

parts did you
Equivalent make from each Algebraic
Fractions Picture original part? form:

Each of the one

__
1 = __
2 thirds is divided ___
1*2 = __
2
3 6 into 2 equal pieces 3*2 6

__
1 = __
3
3 9

__
2 = __
4
3 6

__
1 =
__
2
4 8

__
3 = __
6
4 8

__
2 = __
4
5 10

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 Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

How many equal

parts did you
Equivalent make from each Algebraic
Fractions Picture original part? form:

__
2 = __
6
5 15

__
1 = __
2
5 10

__
1 = __
3
5 15

__
1 = __
2
7 14

__
3 =
__
6
7 14

__
4 = __
8
4 8

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Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

Is this a coincidence?! Look at some of your examples in the activity you just did.

_______
*1 3 = 3 Here each of the two halves was divided into 3 pieces. And so on.

2*3= 6
Try to make a general case here. Do your best!

1 n = means each of the halves is divided into ________(how many) pieces?

_______
*

2*n=
1 * n = means each of the thirds is divided into ________(how many) pieces?
_______

3*n=

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 Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

Ac tivit y 2: more work with equivalent frac tions

Picture Symbol Relationship Explanation

__
1
__
1 ___
1*6 __
6
2*6
=
12 2 is equivalent to
2 __
6
12 because they
cover the same
__
6 ____
6÷6 = __
1 area
12 12 ÷ 6 2

__
1 ___
1* __
2 __
1
= is equivalent to
4 4* 8 4

__
2 ____
2÷ __
1
=
8 8÷

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Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

Picture Symbol Relationship Explanation

__
3
8

__
9
24

__
1
4

__
6
24

___
1*8 = __
8
3*8 24

____
8 ÷8 = __
1
24 ÷ 8 3

__
2 is equivalent to
3
__
16 because they
24 cover the same
area

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 Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

Ac tivit y 3: Using pic tures to find equivalent

frac tions—the area model

Factor for
Original Final Numerator and
Fraction Picture Fraction Picture Denominator
For every 1 piece
__
1 __
4 of __
1 , there are 4
2 8 2
pieces for __
4
8

__
1 __
3
2 6

__
1 __
5
2 10

__
1 __
3
4 12

__
1 __
2
4 8

__
1 __
2
3 6

__
2 __
4
5 10

__
1 __
3
3 9

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Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

Ac tivit y 4: Finding equivalent frac tions

with your frac tion pieces

Use your fraction pieces for this activity.

__
1 __
1 __
2 __
3 __
5
2 2 4 6 10

__
1
3

__
1
5

__
2
3

__
2
5

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 Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

__
5
10

__
3
12

__
1
4

Thinking about it:

a. What is the same about the list of equivalent fractions for 1

__ and
__
5 ?
2 10

b. What is the same about the list of equivalent fractions for 3

__ and
__
1 ?
12 4

c. How can you tell without fraction pieces that two fractions are equivalent?
(more about this later)

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Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

Ac tivit y 5: More equivalent frac tion prac tice

Circle the fractions that are equivalent to the given fraction.

__
4 __
2 __
3 __
14
__
1 __
50 8 __
120 1 __
82 6 __
75 18 __
16
2 25 __
5 240 __
11 164 __
4 150 __
350 36
12 20 2 700

__
9 __
3 __
50 __
300
__
1 __
2 3 __
120 1 __
30 150 __
3 900 __
16
3 6 __
4 300 __
11 10 __
6 6 __
14 46
12 33 2 42

__
4 __
4 __
50 __
25
__ 12 1 25 100
1 __
75 __
120 __
80 __
4 __
100
150 480 320 8 400
4 __
3
12
__
11
42
__
2
8 __
4
14

__
5 __
22 __
10 __
20
__ 10 55 5 5
2 __
4 __
5 __
50 __
20 __
12
20 1 125 100 50
5 __
200
500
__
8
20
__
2
5 __
12
30

__
4 __
12 __
3 __
30
__ 6 13 2 20
2 __
4
12
__
22
33
__
50
75
__
9
12
__
16
24
3 __
100
300
__
80
120
__
6
9 __
250
350

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 Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

Ac tivit y 6: Equivalent frac tion dominoes

Dominoes have been played for over 300 years. This version is a great equivalent fraction
exercise, too.

In case you don’t know how to play, here is an explanation for playing dominoes:

This is a single domino:

If the value on the right of one domino matches the value on the left of the second domino,
they can be connected. Whether they are connected horizontally or vertically depends on
the second value on the second domino. (Generally up and down on the domino are irrel-
evant, unless it bothers the students to read a number upside down.)

You can work in pairs on this, taking turns to add one domino each and check your partner’s
work. Or you can play by yourself. Either way, you practice and learn!

Matches can be either

numbers or pictures

__
5 __
1 __
2 __
1
10 2 4 3

__
2
6

__
1 __
2 __
1
4 8 2

So print pages 44 and 45 to play. You can play by yourself or with a partner.

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Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

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 Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

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Fractions Module Three: Equivalent Fractions, Part One

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