Teaching the Common Core Math Standards With Hands-On Activities, Grades 3-5 (36 page)

Names _______________________________ Date
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Fraction Word Problems

Directions: Solve each problem. Then create a model of the problem that shows your solution. Under each model, write an equation that represents the problem.

1.
Jason and his mom had pizza for dinner. The pie was cut into 8 equal-sized slices. Jason ate 3 slices and his mom ate 2 slices. How much of the pie did they eat?

2.
Liz was helping her mother bake cookies. She had
of a cup of sugar. The recipe called for
of a cup. How much sugar was left over?

A Challenge

3.
On flag day,
of Deena's class wore either a red, a white, or a blue shirt.
of the class wore white shirts.
wore blue shirts. What fraction of the class wore red shirts?

Number and Operations—Fractions: 4.NF.4

“Build fractions from unit fractions by applying and extending previous understandings of operations on whole numbers.”

4. “Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication to multiply a fraction by a whole number.

a.
“Understand a fraction
as a multiple of

b.
“Understand a multiple of
as a multiple of
and use this understanding to multiply a fraction by a whole number.

c.
“Solve word problems involving multiplication of a fraction by a whole number, e.g., by using visual fraction models and equations to represent the problem.”

Background

Multiplication of a fraction by a whole number requires students to multiply the numerator of the fraction by the whole number. For example,
can be modeled by 3 groups of 4 equal parts with 1 out of the 4 equal parts shaded in each group.

The product can be expressed as

Here is another example:
can be modeled by 5 groups of 4 equal parts with 3 out of the 4 parts shaded in each group.