Unit 2, Lesson 5
Fractions on Number Lines
Grade 4
Preparation
Lesson Purpose
The purpose of this lesson is for students to recognize that equivalent fractions describe the same point on the number line and to identify such fractions on a number line.
Lesson Narrative
Prior to this lesson, students used fraction strips and tape diagrams to visualize and represent fractions that are the same size. Here, they use number lines to do so. Students are reminded that equivalent fractions describe the same point on the number line, or are the same distance from 0.
To determine whether two fractions are equivalent, students rely on their understanding of fractions with related denominators (in which one denominator is a multiple of another). They practice thinking of certain fractions in terms of other fractions (for instance, thinking that they can split 1 third into 2 sixths, or 1 fifth into 2 tenths).
- Representation
None
- Justify (orally and using other representations) that two fractions are equivalent if they are on the same point on a number line.
- Label equivalent fractions on number line diagrams.
- Let’s investigate equivalent fractions on a number line.
Required Materials
Activity 1
Required Preparation
None
Teacher Reflection Questions
In the next lesson, students will compare fractions to
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