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Lesson 20: Introduction to Fractions
Many students are very uncomfortable working with fractions. This is probably because they never properly learned what a fraction really is. Fractions are not difficult once you understand them. This lesson will explain.
Don't forget to watch the embedded video clip for this lesson at the bottom of the page. Please be sure to read the embedded video information and disclaimer.
A fraction is just part of a whole. It doesn't matter how big the whole is, or even what it is, it just describes some part of some whole. For example, if I cut a pizza pie into 8 slices, and I eat 3 of them, I can say that I ate three-eighths of the pizza. This can be written as 3/8, or with the 3 on top of the 8 such as the fractional formats shown in the picture.
The picture shows two different fractions. In the first diagram, you can see that there are 4 rectangles, and 1 of them is shaded in. We can say that one-fourth (1/4) of the rectangles are shaded. It doesn't matter that we're talking about rectangles, and it doesn't matter how big they are, or that they are touching. The fraction just describes a portion of a whole. In this case, it means one out of four.
In the second diagram, two out of five (2/5) ovals are shaded. The fraction is read as two-fifths. Again, it doesn't matter that we're talking about ovals, or how big each oval is.
You'll learn much more about fractions in later lessons, but for now there are some basic points to know. First, understand that many different fractions can be equivalent to each other. For example, if I ate 4 slices of pizza, out of a pie that was cut into 8 slices, we can say that I ate four-eights (4/8) of the pizza. But we know that what I really ate was half (1/2) of the pizza. 1/2 is an simpler way of saying 4/8. The two are equivalent.
You'll have much more practice with fractions in later lessons. For now, just make sure that you fully understand the general concept.
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