Pizzas, Kids, Divisions and Fractions
- Author:
- Simona Riva
If you have a division problem, you can use a fraction to represent it!
For example, if you need to share some pizzas equally among 3 kids, you can cut each pizza into three slices and give a slice (one third of the pizza) to each kid.
Do the same for each pizza, count the number of slices (thirds) that each kid received, and you get the result as a fraction!
In this model, a fraction represents the amount of pizza that an individual kid gets when p pizzas are shared equally by k kids.
Try a few division problems in the applet below and observe the results.
Select the example in the app above, and animate to view the result. Has each kid got more than 1 pizza? Now try with . Has each kid got more than 1 pizza? Can you say when we can be sure that in a division (or fraction) the result is greater than 1?