Flashcards
Comparing Fractions Game
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3.NF Comparing Fractions Game
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| What is the goal of the Comparing Fractions Game? | To compare two fractions on a card, determine if they are equivalent, and if not, decide which is larger. |
| What standard does this activity align to? | 3.NF.A.3 and 3.NF.A.3.d |
| How many rounds do students play before recording observations? | 10 rounds |
| What do students do if they disagree on a comparison? | Discuss until they reach a consensus. |
| What do students do if they agree on a comparison? | Take turns explaining their reasoning to each other. |
| Common numerator strategy | When two fractions have the same numerator, compare denominators: more pieces in the whole means smaller pieces, so the fraction with the larger denominator is smaller (e.g., 2/5 < 2/3 because fifths are smaller than thirds). |
| Common denominator strategy | When two fractions have the same denominator, compare numerators: the fraction with more pieces (larger numerator) is greater (e.g., 2/3 < 3/3+1/3, so more thirds means a bigger fraction). |
| Benchmark of one strategy | Compare each fraction to the whole number 1 to determine which is greater (e.g., 2/3 < 1 while 3/2 > 1, so 2/3 < 3/2). |
| What does the denominator tell you about a fraction? | How many equal pieces the whole is divided into; more pieces means each piece is smaller. |
| What does the numerator tell you about a fraction? | How many of the equal-sized pieces (from the denominator) you have. |
| Equivalent fractions | Fractions that represent the same quantity even though they have different numerators and denominators (e.g., 1/2 = 2/4). |
| How can a picture show that 1/2 = 2/4? | Two equally sized wholes are divided differently (into 2 parts vs. 4 parts), but the same total amount of area is shaded in each, showing they are equal. |
| Why is 1/3 less than 1/2? | Because cutting a whole into 3 pieces makes smaller pieces than cutting it into 2 pieces. |
| Why is 3/5 more than 2/5? | Because with the same denominator (fifths), having 3 pieces is one more piece than having 2 pieces. |
| What does it mean if the numerator is bigger than the denominator? | The fraction represents a value greater than one whole. |
| What are unit fractions and why are they important? | Unit fractions have a numerator of 1; all other fractions are built from unit fractions, so understanding them is foundational to comparing fractions. |
| Why must wholes be equally sized when comparing fraction pictures? | Because comparing shaded amounts only works fairly if both pictures represent the same-sized whole. |
| What two versions of fraction cards are provided? | One set with pictures showing the fractions visually, and one set without pictures (numbers only). |
| Why might a teacher remove certain cards from the game? | To focus only on inequalities (removing equivalent fraction cards) or to avoid benchmark-of-1 comparisons (removing cards where one fraction is above 1 and the other below). |
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