Fractions on the Number Line: Using Benchmarks of 1/2 and 1

Shared by Stacy Bort★ Featured Teacher · rated 90+ in our quality review

4th GradeBTC Style / Thinking Classrooms60 min

Learning Objective

Students will identify fractions represented by points on a number line, compare those fractions to the benchmarks $\frac{1}{2}$ and $1$ , and determine the distance of a fraction from each benchmark using equivalent fraction reasoning.

Lesson Overview

Students progress from identifying fractions on labeled number lines to comparing fractions to the benchmarks $\frac{1}{2}$ and $1$ , finding distances from those benchmarks, and reasoning about equivalent fractions to locate $\frac{1}{2}$ when it falls between tick marks.

Materials

Vertical whiteboards or large paper
Dry-erase markers (one per student)
Pencils and blank paper for notes

Scaffolded Task Progression

1Task 1

Look at the number line below. The tick marks divide the space from

0

1

into equal parts. [ Interactive graph / diagram, available in the full lesson ] The number line is split into

4

equal parts. The point marked with ? is at the third tick mark after

0

.
a) What fraction does the point represent?b) Is that fraction greater than or less than

1

2Task 2

Look at the number line below. It is split into

6

equal parts. The point is at the

5

th tick mark after

0

. [ Interactive graph / diagram, available in the full lesson ]
a) What fraction does the point represent?b) Is that fraction greater than or less than

1

?c) How far is it from

1

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