Mr. Siracusa's Class - We Are Family!




Mr. Siracusa and his students doing the Family Fractions activity.


Family Fractions Activity

The preparation
Make a set of 25 Fractionville ID cards with the fractions indicated below or print out the files that are linked below and cut out the individual cards.

Cards based on 1/2 - (1/2, 2/4, 3/6, 4/8, 5/10)
 Cards based on 1/3 - (1/3, 2/6, 3/9, 4/12, 5/15)
 Cards based on 2/3 - (2/3, 4/6, 6/9, 8/12, 10/15)
 Cards based on 1/4 - (1/4, 2/8, 3/12, 4/16, 5/20)
 Cards based on 3/4 - (3/4, 6/8, 9/12, 12/16, 15/20)

On the whiteboard
Show this letter:
Dear applicant:
Congratulations! Your application for becoming a citizen of Fractionville is approved. You are now officially a fraction with a natural number on top and a natural number on the bottom. Enclosed (or on your desk) is your new identity (ID) card. On one side is your new name and on the other is your picture ID. Like this one below folded in half and pasted together.


You are now entitled to participate in all activities in Fractionville.

Regards,
3/5
Mayor of Fractionville

The procedure
Before the class arrives put the cards randomly on the students' desks. After they come in and find their cards, tell them the following: Today you are going to be a fraction that lives in Fractionville. The ID card on your desk has your name on it (for example, 3/4) and on the flip side is your picture ID.

Each of you belongs to a family. There are five families in the room. Your task is to find your family members and sit down with them. When you are together, the head of the family should stand up.

Note: Who is the head of the family you ask? (Why it's the fraction in lowest terms, of course! But first let the kids decide who should be the family member.)
Here's me with a couple of my family members.

Family Fractions (clip from the lesson)

Follow-up activity
Play the dynamic version of this Scratch activity (link below). Click on the green flag to start. Use the arrow keys to move the fraction ID cards around until all of them snap to a spot on a color pad and no longer can be moved. What causes the attraction? What do the different color pads attract? Do the activity again and try to lower how much time you took.



End of activity
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