What is the Area Model? © Copyright all rights reserved to Homework depot: www.BCMath.ca

Area Model: The “area model” is a symbolic representation of fractions Each square is a “whole” (1) unit and can be cut into smaller pieces to represent a fraction The denominator of the fraction determines how many equal pieces to cut the square into The numerator is the number of shaded pieces There are four equal pieces in the square Only one piece is shaded © Copyright all rights reserved to Homework depot: www.BCMath.ca

How to Use the Area Model When cutting the square into smaller pieces, each piece must be the same size Cuts can be made vertically or horizontally (at your convenience) Ex: Represent the following fractions using the Area model Cut it into five equal pieces 3 pieces are shaded 12 equal pieces 7 pieces are shaded © Copyright all rights reserved to Homework depot: www.BCMath.ca

k Practice: Match each of the following fractions on the left with the correct Area model © Copyright all rights reserved to Homework depot: www.BCMath.ca

Equivalent Fractions Fractions that are equal and represent the same amount of a whole unit These fractions will have different numerators and denominators, but have the same value © Copyright all rights reserved to Homework depot: www.BCMath.ca All these fractions are equal to each other!!

Practice: Which of the following are equivalent fractions? © Copyright all rights reserved to Homework depot: www.BCMath.ca

Representing Mixed Fractions Fractions bigger than 1 can be represented by more than one unit square Note: the denominator is the number of pieces that each square is cut into Ex: Represent each of the following mixed fractions using the Area model © Copyright all rights reserved to Homework depot: www.BCMath.ca

Practice: match each of the following fractions on the left with the corresponding area models: © Copyright all rights reserved to Homework depot: www.BCMath.ca

Homework: Area Model Handout © Copyright all rights reserved to Homework depot: www.BCMath.ca