Deci-Strips
Free Resources
Making a fraction/decimal/percentage wall
Overview
Get students to make a fraction/decimal/percentage wall using the blank deci-strips on page two of the deci-strips document.
Encourage them to partition the whole into halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, sixths, eighths, ninths, tenths and any other fractions they might like to challenge themself with.
Use their partitions along with the tenths & hundredths deci-strips to estimate the equivalent decimals & percentages for each fraction.
Once students have estimated the equivalent decimals/percentages for each fraction, then them to think about how they might calculate the equivalent decimal/percentage amount without using a calculator (e.g. for 1/6th, it is half of 1/3 [0.3333], therefore, 1/6 = 0.1666)
Enabler:
Get students to begin with fractions in the halving family (halves, quarters, eighths).
Challenge:
Encourage students to write each value in as many different ways as possible (e.g. 1 half, 0.5, 5 tenths, 50%, 5/10, 50/100 5o hundredths etc.)
Estimating Addition & Subtraction of Fractions
Overview
Get students to add fractions and find the equivalent decimal/percentage amount by using the deci-strips. e.g. for 1/3 + 1/5 students partition 2 blank deci-strips into 1/3 and 1/5 and colour in their respective proportions. They then add the 1/5 to the end of the 1/3 and line it up with a deci-strip to estimate the equivalent decimal/percentage.
Enabler:
– Use fractions with the same denominator
– Provide two fractions which will give an answer of less than one
Challenge:
– Get students to also perform subtraction using the deci-strips