A Maths Starter of The Day

Fractangle

What fraction of this rectangle has been shaded blue?

What fraction of this circle has been shaded red?

Circle

Topics: Starter | Fractions

  • Transum,
  •  
  • Click on the small green button below the rectangle to see the shaded areas line up in the lower third of the diagram. Was that a revelation? A similar transformation can be applied to the circular pattern. Pupils could be challenged to devise a similar pattern that shows two fifths shaded. It would be wonderful to see what they come up with.
  • Katie, Durham
  •  
  • The problem is that students can get the correct answer with a misconception by counting the number of shaded pieces out of the total number of pieces regardless of their size.

    [Transum: Thanks Katie. Maybe we should add that students have to explain how they got their answer. That might help highlight the misconception.]
  • Jonathan Harrison, oaklands.ac.uk
  •  
  • Or unshade one of the shaded parts of the question.
  • Steve, Erpingham Primary
  •  
  • Hi, I can't find the green button for the solution to the fractangles problem?

    [Transum: Sorry for the inconvenience Steve. The animation was originally written in Flash so it wouldn't work on certain devices and browsers. It has now been rewritten without using Flash so you should be able to see the green button just below and to the right of the rectangle.]
  • Mrs Melono,
  •  
  • Interesting. My students got it very quickly.
  • Dominique BODIN, France
  •  
  • Just add one or two segments would easily prevent the misconception pointed above without loosing the "unequal parts" aspect of the task.

    [Transum: Excellent idea Dominique. I have added the extra segments to the rectangle diagram but left the circle as it is for whole class discussion. Thanks.]

How did you use this starter? Can you suggest how teachers could present or develop this resource? Do you have any comments? It is always useful to receive feedback and helps make this free resource even more useful for Maths teachers anywhere in the world.
Click here to enter your comments.

Previous Day | This starter is for 10 August | Next Day

 

Answers

Sign in to your Transum subscription account to see the answers


Your access to the majority of the Transum resources continues to be free but you can help support the continued growth of the website by doing your Amazon shopping using the links on this page. Below is an Amazon link. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small amount from qualifying purchases which helps pay for the upkeep of this website.

Educational Technology on Amazon

 

Online Maths Shop

Laptops In Lessons

Teacher, do your students have access to computers such as tablets, iPads or Laptops?  This page was really designed for projection on a whiteboard but if you really want the students to have access to it here is a concise URL for a version of this page without the comments:

Transum.org/go/?Start=August10

However it would be better to assign one of the student interactive activities below.

Laptops In Lessons

Here is the URL which will take them to a traditional fractions online exercise.

Transum.org/go/?to=fract

Student Activity

 


Extension 1

How many pizzas?

How many pizzas?

 


Extension 2

Make up a mathematical question about this hypnotic design.

The hypnotic design above was adapted from code made available by Emma http://chilliconcode.com/uncategorised/hypnoctic-css-spinning-illusion/

Curriculum Reference

See the National Curriculum page for links to related online activities and resources.

Transum.org is a proud supporter of the kidSAFE Seal Program