Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v5 - Grade 2
Fractions: halves and quarters – Week 2 focus
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Fractions: halves and quarters – Week 2 focus
Download the Lessonotes Mobile South Africa app for faster lesson access on Android and iPhone.
Subject: Mathematics
Class: Grade 2
Term: 2nd Term
Week: 2
Theme: General lesson support
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Fractions are an important part of everyday life in South Africa. From sharing a koeksister with a friend to figuring out how much juice each person gets when sharing a carton, understanding fractions helps us to divide things fairly and solve practical problems. This week, we're focusing on two fundamental fractions: halves and quarters. Knowing about halves and quarters is like having a special key that unlocks a whole new world of sharing and understanding portions. It's about being fair, equitable, and understanding parts of a whole. This is particularly important in a society like South Africa, where resources are often shared amongst families and communities.
What is a Fraction? A fraction represents a part of a whole. Imagine you have a whole orange. A fraction tells you how much of that orange you have. The whole needs to be divided into equal parts for the fraction to be valid.
Halves (1/2): A half means dividing something into two equal parts. The fraction for a half is written as 1/
2. The '1' (numerator) tells you how many parts you have (one part). The '2' (denominator) tells you how many total equal parts the whole is divided into (two parts).
Example 1: Sharing a Koeksister Let's say you have one delicious koeksister and you want to share it equally with your best friend. You need to cut it into two equal parts. Each of you gets one part out of the two parts. You each get 1/2 of the koeksister. [Imagine a simple drawing here showing a Koeksister cut in half] Example 2: Half of a Group of Marbles You have 6 marbles. You want to give half of them to your sister. First, you need to divide the marbles into two equal groups. One way to do this is to give one marble to your sister, then one to yourself, then another to your sister, and another to yourself, and so on until you have used all the marbles. You will find that each group has 3 marbles. So, half of 6 marbles is 3 marbles. 1/2 of 6 = 3 [Imagine a simple drawing here showing 6 marbles divided into two groups of 3] Quarters (1/4): A quarter means dividing something into four equal parts. The fraction for a quarter is written as 1/
4. The '1' (numerator) tells you how many parts you have (one part). The '4' (denominator) tells you how many total equal parts the whole is divided into (four parts).
Example 3: Sharing a Pizza Your family orders a pizza and it is cut into four equal slices. Each slice is one quarter of the whole pizza. If you eat one slice, you have eaten 1/4 of the pizza. [Imagine a simple drawing here showing a Pizza cut into 4 slices] Example 4: Quarters of a Bunch of Bananas You have a bunch of 8 bananas. You want to find out what a quarter of the bunch is. You need to divide the bananas into four equal groups. You can do this by giving one banana to each group until all bananas are used. You will find that each group has 2 bananas. So, a quarter of 8 bananas is 2 bananas. 1/4 of 8 = 2 [Imagine a simple drawing here showing 8 bananas divided into four groups of 2] Comparing Halves and Quarters: Imagine you have a chocolate bar. If you divide it in half, each piece is bigger than if you divide the same chocolate bar into quarters. This means that 1/2 is bigger than 1/
4. Why? Because when you make more equal parts, each part gets smaller. It's like sharing with more friends - everyone gets a smaller piece! Guided Practice (With Solutions)
Question 1: Draw a square. Divide it into two equal parts. Shade one half of the square. What fraction of the square is shaded?
Solution: Draw a square. Draw a line down the middle to divide it into two equal parts. Shade one of the parts. The shaded fraction is 1/2 (one out of two equal parts).
Commentary: This question reinforces the visual representation of a half. The act of drawing and shading helps learners solidify their understanding.
Question 2: You have 4 apples. You want to give a quarter of the apples to your friend. How many apples do you give your friend?
Solution: You need to find 1/4 of
4. Divide the 4 apples into 4 equal groups. (1 apple per group) Each group has 1 apple.
Therefore, you give your friend 1 apple.
Commentary: This problem connects the concept of quarters to a real-world scenario. We are teaching learners how to find the fraction of a set of objects.
Question 3: You have a round birthday cake. You want to share it equally among 4 friends (including yourself). What fraction of the cake does each person get? Draw a diagram to help you.
Solution: Draw a circle to represent the cake. Divide the circle into four equal parts (like cutting a pizza). Each person gets one of the four equal parts.
Therefore, each person gets 1/4 of the cake. [Imagine a simple drawing here showing a circle cut into 4 equal pieces]
Commentary: This question links quarters to the concept of sharing amongst a group, reinforcing the practical application of fractions. Independent Practice (Questions Only) Draw a rectangle. Divide it into four equal parts. Shade one quarter of the rectangle. What fraction of the rectangle is shaded? You have 8 biscuits. You want to give half of the biscuits to your brother. How many biscuits do you give your brother? Sarah has a chocolate bar. She breaks it into two equal pieces. She eats one piece. What fraction of the chocolate bar did she eat? Mom bought 12 oranges. She wants to give a quarter of them to her neighbour. How many oranges does she give to her neighbour? John has a string. He cuts it into 4 equal pieces. What fraction of the string is each piece? Thando has 2 sweets. She gives half of her sweets to her friend. How many sweets does Thando have left?