Lesson 5

Fractions on Number Lines

Lesson Purpose

The purpose of this lesson is for students to recognize that equivalent fractions describe the same point on the number line and to identify such fractions on the number line.

Lesson Narrative

Prior to this lesson, students used fraction strips and tape diagrams to visualize and represent fractions that are the same size. Here they use number lines to do so. Students are reminded that equivalent fractions describe the same point on the number line, or are the same distance from 0.

To determine whether two fractions are equivalent, students rely on their understanding of fractions with related denominators (in which one denominator is a multiple of another). They practice thinking of certain fractions in terms of other fractions (for instance, thinking that they can split 1 third into 2 sixths, or 1 fifth into 2 tenths).

  • Representation

Learning Goals

Teacher Facing

  • Identify equivalent fractions on a number line.
  • Recognize that fractions that describe the same point on the number line are equivalent.

Student Facing

  • Let’s investigate equivalent fractions on a number line.

Required Materials

Materials to Gather

Required Preparation

CCSS Standards

Building On

Addressing

Lesson Timeline

Warm-up 10 min
Activity 1 20 min
Activity 2 15 min
Lesson Synthesis 10 min
Cool-down 5 min

Teacher Reflection Questions

In the next lesson, students will be comparing fractions to \(\frac{1}{2}\) and 1, applying what they know about equivalence and distance on a number line. How did today’s work prepare them for that lesson?

Suggested Centers

  • Get Your Numbers in Order (1–5), Stage 3: Denominators 2, 3, 4, or 6 (Addressing)
  • Number Line Scoot (2–3), Stage 3: Halves, Thirds, Fourths, Sixths and Eighths (Supporting)

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