Fractions can be bigger than one. Year 5 children write them as improper fractions and as mixed numbers, simplify fractions to their lowest terms and find fractions of larger amounts.
What your child will learn
- Change an improper fraction into a mixed number, and back
- Simplify a fraction by dividing the top and the bottom by the same number
- Find a fraction of an amount
Two ways to write the same amount
Seven quarters is 7/4. Four quarters make one whole, so 7/4 is 1 whole and 3 quarters: 1 3/4. Going back, 1 3/4 is 4 quarters plus 3 quarters, which is 7/4. To simplify 6/8, divide the top and bottom by 2 to get 3/4.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. Write 4/3 as a mixed number.
- 1 1/3
- 2 1/3
- 3 1/3
- 1 1/4
Show answer
Answer: 1 1/3. 4 ÷ 3 = 1 remainder 1, so it is 1 wholes and 1/3.
2. Write 17/3 as a mixed number.
- 5 2/3
- 5 2/17
- 6 2/3
- 2 5/3
Show answer
Answer: 5 2/3. 17 ÷ 3 = 5 remainder 2, so it is 5 wholes and 2/3.
3. Write 5/2 as a mixed number.
- 1 2/2
- 3 1/2
- 2 1/5
- 2 1/2
Show answer
Answer: 2 1/2. 5 ÷ 2 = 2 remainder 1, so it is 2 wholes and 1/2.
Tips for grown-ups
- Cut fruit into quarters and count: “five quarters is one whole and one quarter”.
- Look for fractions that can be simplified on rulers and measuring jugs.