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Straw Fractions Introduction

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Straw Fractions Introduction

Omar, Tahnee and Charlie are preparing drink straws for a long airport delay. Use the straw diagrams to explore equal groups, fractions and equivalent fractions. Show your working where needed.

Read the straw groups

A fraction describes equal parts of a whole or a group. In 3/4, the denominator (4) tells how many equal parts there are altogether. The numerator (3) tells how many of those parts are being considered. Fractions can also describe a portion of a collection: if 3 of 12 straws are blue, 3/12 of the straws are blue.

1.The airport café sorts 12 straws into 3 equal bundles. How many straws are in each bundle?

2.Tahnee labels one of 4 equal bundles as 1/4 of the straws. What does the 4 tell her?

There are 4 straws in one bundle
The straws are split into 4 equal bundles altogether
She has taken 4 bundles

3.Charlie has 20 straws. He puts them into 5 equal bundles. How many straws are in each bundle, and how many straws make up 3/5 of the collection?

4.The diagram shows 2 of 3 equal parts highlighted. Write the fraction represented, then name its numerator and denominator.

5.At the café, 6 of 18 straws are paper straws. What fraction of the straws are paper? Give the fraction in simplest form.

6.Which fractions are equivalent to 1/2? Select all that apply: 2/4, 3/6, 4/10, 5/10.

2/4 and 3/6 only
2/4, 3/6 and 5/10
4/10 and 5/10 only

7.Omar uses 8 straws to model 1/4 of a collection. If the 8 straws are one quarter of the total, how many straws are in the whole collection? Explain how you know.

8.A packet contains 15 straws. Tahnee says 2/5 of them is 5 straws. Is she correct? Show a calculation or explain your reasoning.

9.The airport has 24 reusable straws. Three-quarters are packed for the next flight. How many are packed, and how many are left?

10.Draw or describe a way to arrange 12 straws to show 2/3 of the collection. State how many straws represent 2/3.

11.Omar says 2/6 is greater than 1/3 because 6 is greater than 3. Is his claim correct? Explain using equivalent fractions or equal-sized groups.