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Fractions

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Definition of a fraction – A fraction is a number that is an integer multiple of a unit fraction.

Fractions are a part of our everyday lives and are used extensively in the business and finance related area. They may be represented as precents and rates – error rate, interest rate, employment rate, productivity levels, etc. Trades and manufacturing are also prolific users of fractions in the length of materials, how many lengths fit into a structure and working out quantities of material need to complete a batch or run of product, (Tucker, 2008).
Fractions can be represented in many different ways, the mathematical notation for a fraction is represented as k(1/l) and for whole numbers k,l(l>0) or in the common form of ¼ or ½ . Commonly found representations of fraction for the purpose of teaching are equally divided circles or rectangle.
The concept of fractions are a difficult to teach part of mathematics as the younger ages can struggle to comprehend the shift from whole numbers to units, fractions or parts of a number. This can be due to many factors including the inability to conceptualise the breaking up of a whole into parts or units, (Pengelly, 1991).
A good start to allowing children to comprehend this is the use of base shapes such as triangles or squares and to break these up into parts and get the students to work out how many parts of the whole there are, therefore working out the fraction that is required. This can be progresses to more difficult learnings by having the children work out how many ways they can represent different fractions of the whole, (Tucker, 2008).
Relating the use of fractions to everyday usage is another way to help students conceptualize how fractions work. Helping them to work out fractions of money is a great way to do this. The use of $1 representing the whole and how many 50c make a half, how many coins do you need to make a ¼ of a dollar. More difficult learning of equivalent fractions can be extended in this exercise by working out how much money does 5/20 equal.

References:
Pengelly, H., (1991). Fractions: M3 Mathematics. Globalcom Pty Ltd: Singapore
Tucker, A., (2008). Fractions and Units in Everyday Life. State University of New York-Stony Brook

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