Fractions in Year 5
The primary maths programme of study continues to lay great emphasis on teaching fractions; a topic which has always proved tricky in the past. In Year 5 it is expected that children will be taught to:
- Compare fractions whose denominators are all multiples of the same number
- Find equivalent fractions
- Convert mixed numbers to improper fractions and vice versa
- Add and subtract fractions
- Multiply proper fractions by whole numbers
- Read and write decimal numbers as fractions
- They will also be expected to recognise percentages and solve simple percentage problems.
This is quite a task, but luckily with over 120 pages of work our fraction worksheets meet all these targets and we have also recently updated many of the worksheets using better fonts and more friendly layout.
By Year 5 children will need a clear understanding of equivalent fractions. They should understand that 1/2 is equivalent to 2/4, 4/8 etc. This will help them enormously when they come to adding and subtracting fractions; in fact they won’t be able to do them without this understanding.
A fraction such as 5/20 can be reduced to an equivalent fraction 1/4 by dividing the numerator and denominator by the same number. This is usually known as cancelling.
A fraction such as 4/10 can be changed to an equivalent fraction by multiplying both the numerator and the denominator by the same number, for example multiply by 10 to get 40/100. There is no mathematical term for this, but it is often known as ‘lecnacing’ (cancel backwards).
In Year 5 children will learn about mixed numbers and improper fractions and how to change one to the other. An improper fraction has a top number larger than (or equal to) the bottom number. This means that the value of the fraction is at least one whole one.
7/3 and 6/5 are both examples of improper fractions.
A mixed number is a combination of whole numbers and fractions.
4 ¾ is an example of a mixed number.
To convert improper fractions to mixed numbers is quite easy:
- Divide the numerator (top number) by the denominator (bottom number).
- Write down the whole number answer.
- Write down any remainder as the top number of a fraction with the bottom number staying the same.
- Simplify the fraction if necessary.
To convert a mixed number to an improper fraction:
- Multiply the whole number by the fraction’s denominator.
- Add that to the top number of the fraction.
- Then rewrite the fraction with the new top number total.
As with most things, these become quite easy once they have been practised a few times and we have a great selection of pages to help with both.