Fractions: An Introduction

Hi, I'm Felicity and today I'm going to be giving you an introduction to fractions. Fractions can exist in many different forms. For example, they can exist as a proportion, so finding perhaps a half of an original whole, or for comparing quantities, for example, Kian has 3/4 as many marbles as hope as seen here with these counters. Or they can be written numerically. So here we have a number line where half has been written numerically on the number line. As with any other numbers, fractions can be operated on by any of the four operations. But let's briefly have a look at fractions as a proportion. So here we've got this rectangle. It's been divided into four equal parts or quarters. We're concerned with these three parts. This can be written as the fraction three quarters. So let's have a look at this fraction. The top part is called the numerator, in this case 3. This indicates the number of sections of the whole that we are concerned with. The bottom number is called the denominator and this refers to the number of equal parts the whole has been divided into. In the middle here we have the fraction bar. Try and avoid referring to this as say, three over four, as it's mathematically not very meaningful. We've then got lots of different types of fractions. So for example, we've got unit fractions in which the numerator is always one. So for example, we've got 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, etc. Then we have non unit fractions in which the numerator is always larger than one, but smaller than the denominator. So for example, we've got 2/5 or 3,6. These two types of fractions in which the numerator is always smaller than the denominator can be referred to as proper fractions. Then we also have improper fractions in which the numerator is larger than the denominator. So here we have five halves. This can also be written as a mixed number. So for example, five halves can be written as two and one half. So we have a whole number and a fraction. You should try and get your pupils thinking of real life examples of fractions. They're all around us. For example, a half price sale or when they're sharing a bag of sweets equally with their siblings. In the next few videos, we're going to be looking at a few different ways you can teach fractions to Key Stages 1 and 2.