Remarks
For division of fractions, students might use drawings, manipulatives, and symbolic notation to describe how and explain why they can find a common denominator and then divide just the numerators to find the quotient.
Example: In order to divide 2/3 by 1/4 , a student may reason that 2/3 = 8/12 and 1/4 = 3/12. So, (2/3)÷(1/4) is equivalent to (8/12)÷(3/12), which gives the same result as 8÷3=2 2/3. The following picture is a representation that matches the above explanation:
In the following fraction multiplication examples, students may use drawings or physical objects to represent the problems and explain their solution.
Example 1: One-half of your yard is garden. One- fourth of your garden is a vegetable garden. What fraction of your yard is a vegetable garden? Draw a picture and write a number sentence that both describe the problem and solution.
Pizza Parlor Scenarios
Example 2: A cook made four pizzas that had 3/5 of a package of mushrooms on each. How many packages of mushrooms were used?
Example 3: Sue ate some pizza. 2/3 of a pizza is left over. Jim ate 3/4 of the left over pizza. How much of a whole pizza did Jim eat?
Example 4: A party dessert pizza measures 2/3 of a yard by 3/4 of a yard. How much of a square yard is the party dessert pizza?
Example 5: There was 4/5 of a pound of pizza dough leftover in the freezer from the previous day. The cook thawed out 3/8 of the leftover dough. How much of a pound of dough did the cook thaw?
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Item Type(s):
This benchmark may be assessed using:
MC
item(s)
- Clarification :
Students may identify procedures for multiplying or dividing fractions and/or decimals in the context of expressions, equations, or real-world situations.
Students will choose the correct graphic representation of multiplication or division problems involving fractions or decimals. - Content Limits :
Items may include mixed numbers, fractions, and/or decimals.
Items may include decimals through the hundredths place.
Denominators of fractions used must be less than or equal to 16.
Items will not require the student to simplify fractions.
Items may not include a combination of fractions and decimals. - Stimulus Attributes :
Items should be set in a real-world or mathematical context.
Graphical representations of fractions, mixed numbers, and/or decimals may be used, as appropriate.
- Test Item #: Sample Item 1
- Question: Merrill baked a cake in the shape of a rectangular prism for a party. After the party, 1/4 of the cake had not been eaten. Merrill froze 2/3 of the remaining cake. A diagram of the portion eaten and the portion frozen is shown below.
Which expression can be used to find the fraction of the original whole cake Merrill froze?
- Difficulty: N/A
- Type: MC: Multiple Choice
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Teaching Ideas
STEM Lessons - Model Eliciting Activity
In this Model Eliciting Activity (MEA), students will use the 4 operations with decimal numbers and calculate profit (including negative numbers) as well as use the resulting data to help a business owner make decisions about their candy stores.
Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem, while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought process. MEAs follow a problem-based, student-centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEA’s visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx
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Teaching Idea
Sometimes students ask, "Why are we using the reciprocal when dividing fractions?" This website gives you the language you can use and a visual demonstration of why.
Type: Teaching Idea