Equivalent Fractions with a Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar

Who: The following lesson/activity is geared towards 3rd through 5th grade students. This is also a great lesson for tactile and visual learners.

Prior Knowledge: Students should already understand the concept of what a fraction is. Students should know how to divide up a whole into halves, quarters, thirds, etc.

Lesson Objective: By the end of this lesson you will be able to define what an equivalent fraction is. You will also be able to find common equivalent fractions (such as fractions equal to 1/2, 1/3, 1/4).

Materials: You will need a BIG Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bar (one that has 12 pieces). It also might be helpful to have or make fraction strips, but this is not essential.

Ready to Find Equivalent Fractions

For this activity I am going to direct you to a GLOG I made that allows you to explore equivalent fractions with a Hershey's Chocolate Bar! Simply click on the link below. This link will take you to a Glog that I have made to help students discover and understand equivalent fractions. While this is a great activity, students who are new to this concept will need many other opportunities to engage with this topic.

http://kande9un.edu.glogster.com/fractions-are-fun/

Thinking Behind the Lesson:

While I do not like to motivate or reward children with food, relating mathematical concepts, especially fractions to familiar things can help students understand and make meaning of the learning more readily. Fortunately or unfortunately, food lends itself very well to teaching students about fractions. Whether it is cutting the pizza up or the Hershey Bar, students are immediately engaged and seem to grasp the concept more easily because they see how this relates to their everyday lives. Students are also able to practice and model this lesson with family and friends because the materials are readily available. Gardner emphasizes that making learning meaningful and accessible to all learners by teaching in a variety of ways, is essential to their learning (Slavin p. 118). Similar to other lessons, this activity is line with Gardner’s thoughts and theories. It not only engages the learner, but it is a great activity for visual and tactile learners as well! When learning about fractions, especially equivalent fractions, it is essential for students to be able to manipulate materials in order to discover how two different fractions can be equal to one another. This lesson is a great way for students to see and model this concept.

Reflection:

*In reflecting on this lesson/activity, I am wondering if this lesson/activity could have been improved by adding more visuals. I went back and forth on this, as I didn’t want to interfere with the self-discovery aspect of this lesson. The real objective of this lesson was to allow students to discover what an equivalent fraction was and what that looked like. I am hopeful that my guiding questions are not too prescriptive and that they still allow students the opportunity to explore and figure the concept out for themselves. If students are struggling with following the steps without visuals, please open the attachment at the end of the Glog, as these pictures should help students see how two different fractions can be equal to one another.

*If you want to make this lesson more discovery and exploratory based, do not read the book first. Have students do the activity first and then read the book after, as a way to reinforce the concept. The book is a way of getting students thinking about equivalent fractions and then the activity helps them solidify the concept a bit more. Think about the type of student you have and make your decision based on your learner.

*To allow students to practice and discover more equivalent fractions, either buy or cut up the fraction strips that are attached to the Glog. Simply ask students to come up with as many pairs of equivalent fractions as possible. Do not give them any other guidance besides that.

*Finally, ask your student to find equivalent fractions around the house. If they find some good examples, have them take pictures of them and attach them to the Blog. For example, I could take a picture of a carton of eggs that only has 6 eggs inside. This would be an example of how 6/12 = ½ .

References:

Slavin, Robert E. (2009). Educational psychology: Theory and practice. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Pearson.