#1460. Fraction Mobile

Mathematics, level: Middle
Posted Sun Dec 26 13:42:15 PST 1999 by Angie Grimes (monkeysinazoo@aol.com).
Morningside Middle, North Charleston, SC
Activity Time: about 30-45 minutes
Concepts Taught: Demonstrating the concept that a fraction is a part of a whole

Materials: 3 squares of paper/student (about 3x3), 1 rectangle of construction paper/student (about 3x8), markers, glue, Woodsies (found in craft departments), yarn (3 strings/student)

Procedure: (I found it very helpful to show the students an example of the mobile right at the beginning of the lesson)
1) Give each student a ziplock bag with needed materials (paper squares, yarn, and wood shapes) * It's helpful to already have the holes punched into the 3 squares of paper and the three holes in the rectangle.
2) Students are to create pictures or patterns on the paper squares using the wood shapes. They should also color the shapes.
3) On the back of the squares they should write a fraction about their picture. Ex. 3/5 of the shapes are triangles
or 2/5 of the shapes are red
4) Tell students to BE CREATIVE! (My students like to rush through activities)
5) After the students have created their fractions, they are ready to attach the squares to the rectangle with the yarn.
6) Have students share their mobiles with the class

* My classes really enjoyed this activity and got very creative with their wood designs; creating pictures of people, flowers, cars, etc. Also, I found this activity helpful in having them think of fractions in ways other than "slices of pizza and cake". If you don't want to spend the money on buying the wood pieces, you can always just cut out paper shapes of squares, circles, and triangles in varying sizes.