Lesson 1: Introduction to Fractions – Understanding Parts of a Whole

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Understand what a fraction is and why we use them
• Identify fractions in everyday life
• Recognize that fractions represent parts of a whole
• Understand the concept of equal parts
• Use simple fraction vocabulary correctly

What Are Fractions? 🧩

Hello young mathematicians! Today we’re going to explore something really exciting called fractions.

Have you ever shared a pizza with your family? Or eaten half of an apple? Congratulations! You’ve already used fractions in real life!

Why Do We Need Fractions?

Sometimes we don’t have whole things. Sometimes we have:

• Part of a chocolate bar that you shared with your sister
• Half a glass of milk left after drinking some
• A piece of cake from your birthday party
• Some of the flowers in a garden

Fractions help us talk about these parts in a mathematical way.

Real-Life Examples of Fractions 🌍

Let’s look around us and see where fractions appear in our daily life:

🍕 Food Examples

• Half a sandwich (1/2)
• A slice of pizza (1/8 if pizza is cut into 8 slices)
• Quarter of an apple (1/4)
• A piece of chocolate from a bar

⏰ Time Examples

• Half an hour (30 minutes)
• Quarter past three (15 minutes after 3 o’clock)
• Half past four (30 minutes after 4 o’clock)

🏃‍♂️ Sports Examples

• Half-time in a football match
• Quarter of a race completed
• Part of a swimming pool length

🎨 Art Examples

• Half the page colored
• Some crayons from a box
• Part of a drawing completed

Understanding “Parts of a Whole” 🔢

The most important thing to understand about fractions is:

A fraction shows us how many parts we have out of the total number of equal parts.

What Makes a “Whole”?

A whole can be many different things:

• One complete pizza 🍕
• One full chocolate bar 🍫
• One entire apple 🍎
• One whole class of students 👨‍🎓
• One complete circle ⭕
• One full rectangle ⬜

The Magic Word: “EQUAL”

For fractions to work properly, we must divide our whole into EQUAL PARTS.

Equal parts means:

• All pieces are exactly the same size
• No piece is bigger or smaller than others
• Each piece has the same amount

✅ Examples of Equal Parts:

• A pizza cut into 4 equal slices
• A chocolate bar with 6 equal squares
• A circle divided into 2 equal halves

❌ Examples of Unequal Parts:

• A pizza with slices of different sizes
• Breaking a cookie randomly into pieces
• Cutting a cake with uneven slices

Visual Learning with Shapes 👀

Let’s practice with some shapes to understand fractions better:

Circle Examples

Example 1: A circle divided into 2 equal parts

• If we color 1 part → We have 1/2 (one-half)
• If we color both parts → We have 2/2 (which equals 1 whole!)

Example 2: A circle divided into 4 equal parts

• If we color 1 part → We have 1/4 (one-fourth)
• If we color 2 parts → We have 2/4 (two-fourths)
• If we color 3 parts → We have 3/4 (three-fourths)

Rectangle Examples

Example 1: A rectangle divided into 3 equal parts

• If we color 1 part → We have 1/3 (one-third)
• If we color 2 parts → We have 2/3 (two-thirds)

Key Vocabulary Words 📚

Let’s learn some important fraction words:

Fraction: A number that represents part of a whole

Whole: The complete object or shape we’re talking about

Equal Parts: Pieces that are exactly the same size

Half: One part when something is divided into 2 equal parts (1/2)

Third: One part when something is divided into 3 equal parts (1/3)

Fourth/Quarter: One part when something is divided into 4 equal parts (1/4)

Fun Activities to Try at Home 🏠

Activity 1: Fraction Hunt

Look around your house and find examples of fractions:

• Foods that can be divided into parts
• Objects that show fractions (like clocks)
• Things that are “part of” a collection

Activity 2: Paper Folding

1. Take a piece of paper
2. Fold it in half → You’ve made 2 equal parts!
3. Color one part → You’ve made 1/2
4. Try folding into 4 equal parts → Make fourths!

Activity 3: Sharing Game

Practice sharing equally:

• 6 cookies among 3 friends (each gets 2)
• 8 crayons among 4 friends (each gets 2)
• 1 apple among 2 friends (each gets 1/2)

Important Things to Remember 💡

1. Fractions are everywhere in our daily life
2. Equal parts are essential – all pieces must be the same size
3. A whole can be anything – one pizza, one class, one shape
4. Fractions help us share fairly and describe parts accurately
5. We see fractions in food, time, sports, and art

Questions for Discussion 🤔

1. Can you think of a time when you used fractions today?
2. Why is it important that parts are equal when we make fractions?
3. What would happen if we cut a pizza into unequal slices?
4. How do fractions help us in everyday life?

Summary

Today we learned that fractions are numbers that show us parts of a whole. We discovered that fractions are all around us – in the food we eat, the time we tell, and the games we play. The most important thing to remember is that for fractions to work properly, we need to divide things into equal parts.

In our next lesson, we’ll learn about the special names for the parts of a fraction and how to read and write fractions using numbers!

Preparation for Next Lesson: Look around your home and try to find 3 examples of things that could be divided into equal parts. We’ll share these examples in our next class!

Fun Fact: The word “fraction” comes from a Latin word meaning “to break” – because we break wholes into parts!