Discover how fractions work in everyday life! Learn to solve real-world problems involving parts, wholes, and fractional relationships.
Meet the Fraction Friends! Lily and Jake are helping their mom bake cookies for a school party. The recipe makes 24 cookies, but they need to make 3 times as many. They also want to give away 1/4 of the cookies to their neighbors and keep 1/3 for their family. How many cookies will they have for the school party? Let's help them solve this delicious fraction problem!
Fraction applications are real-world problems that use fractions to solve practical situations. You'll work with parts of wholes, sharing equally, and finding fractional amounts in everyday contexts.
Think of it like this: Fractions are everywhere! From sharing pizza to measuring ingredients, fractions help us understand parts of things in real life.
Identify the whole
What is the total amount you're working with?
Find the fraction
What part of the whole are you looking for?
Calculate the amount
Multiply the whole by the fraction
Check your answer
Does the answer make sense? Can you verify it?
To find 1/3 of 24:
24 ÷ 3 = 8
To find 2/3 of 24:
24 ÷ 3 × 2 = 16
1/4 + 1/3 = ?
Find common denominator first
1 - 1/4 = ?
4/4 - 1/4 = 3/4
Lily and Jake's recipe makes 24 cookies, but they need 3 times as many (72 total). They want to give 1/4 to neighbors and keep 1/3 for their family. How many cookies are left for the school party?
Total cookies = 72
Neighbors get 18 cookies
Family keeps 24 cookies
Answer: 30 cookies for the school party
A pizza is cut into 8 equal slices. Sarah eats 3/8 of the pizza, and her brother eats 1/4 of the pizza. How much pizza is left?
Brother ate 2/8 of the pizza
Total eaten = 5/8 of the pizza
Answer: 3/8 of the pizza is left
Plan a pizza party with 48 slices total:
Check: Kids + Adults + Leftover = 48?
Plan your day with fractions of an hour:
Total time: 8 hours
When adding or subtracting fractions, make sure they have the same denominator first.
Remember: numerator (top) tells how many parts, denominator (bottom) tells how many equal parts make a whole.
Ask yourself: "Can this fraction be part of the whole? Is it reasonable?"
Always write fractions in their simplest form when possible.
A chocolate bar has 12 pieces. Emma eats 1/3 of the bar, and her friend eats 1/4 of the bar. How many pieces are left?
A garden has 60 flowers. 2/5 are roses, 1/6 are tulips, and the rest are daisies. How many daisies are there?