Division word problems
resulting in fractions or
mixed numbers Students will become comfortable solving
word problems where the answer is a fraction
or a mixed number. Using pictures and
drawings is an expectation when solving
these word problems. Here are some
examples:
Since each piece is 1/3, each kid has a total of
5/3. 5/3 is an improper fraction that I can also
represent as a mixed number – 1 2/3.
There are 5 chocolate bars and 3 kids. How
much of a chocolate bar will each kid get?
To solve this problem, I can first draw 5
rectangles to represent the 5 chocolate bars. Since I cannot evenly split 5 bars among 3
kids, I need to divide each bar into 3 equal
pieces, resulting in thirds.
Here’s another example:
Four friends are sharing 7 packs of cookies.
How many packs will each friend get?
Let’s use a different visual for this problem.
Like above I draw 7 rectangles to represent
the 7 packs of cookies. You can see that each kid will end up with 5
pieces. I can easily see that I can give each student at
least a whole pack.
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Now I need to divide the remaining packs of
cookies. Since there are 4 friends sharing, I
need to divide each remaining pack into
fourths.
Each friend then gets 1/4 of each remaining
pack of cookies. Toolbox
Allow your child to make up their own word
problems that would lead to a specific
answer. For example, what word problem
would give me an answer of 4/5?
Students typically assume that multiplication
leads to larger answers. However, in the case
of fractions, that is not true. When you
multiply fractions, you are actually just getting
a piece of the whole, which is smaller than
the whole. On the other hand, when dividing
with fractions, the result will be larger, even
though the result is usually smaller with
division problems. Relating fractions to division – here is a great
printable to practice word problems that
result in a fraction or mixed number.
I can see from this visual that each friend has
one whole pack and then ¾ more of a pack. So, then answer is 1 ¾ of a pack of cookies. 1
¾ is a mixed number that is simplified so you
can leave the answer alone.
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