Let’s Explore types of fractions with legos

Students of class 4 have built and explored different types of fractions using legos. They have visualized and represented proper, improper and apparent fractions.

Children could compare them changing lego proper fractions into apparent fractions and into improper fractions.

They have figured out by practice the possibility to convert improper fractions into mixed numbers, developing the number sense for fractions and exploring number operations with fractions. They have practised the ordering of different types of fractions from least to greatest and vice versa.

This lego activity has given the teacher the opportunity to introduce equivalent fractions with a tactile and a visual representation, demostrating the relationship between parts of a whole. You can show that 3/6  bricks in a whole are white, or half of the bricks are white. This means that 3/6 or 1/2 are equal.

While comparing the lego blocks, students could count the number of studs on each block in order to represent equivalent fractions and the brick colors have helped students to find connections among the fractional parts to make them equal.
Teacher has guided students in the activity asking some questions, for example:
"How many brick studs cover the whole? How many bricks by 2, 4 studs cover the whole? What parts of the whole do 1/4, 2/8, 4/16 represent?".
Children have broken up wholes too and put together parts of wholes exploring the complementary fractions.

Types of fractions

We are able to order fractions from least to greatest and from greatest to least!

Let's explore equivalent fractions

... and complementary fractions