Mathematics

Intermediate

50 mins

Teacher/Student led

Learning Goals

Learning Outcomes

Lesson Files

+65 XP

What you need:
IWB/Projector/Large Screen

Comparing Two Fractions

Develop strategies to compare two fractions with different denominators using common denominators, benchmarking to one half, or comparing numerators. Practise choosing the most efficient method for each pair.

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1 Getting Started
2 Watch and Notice
3 Try It Together
4 Work the Comparison in Your Copy
5 Class Challenge
Pupil practice

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

Illustration for Getting Started Here are two fractions: 3/4 and 5/6. Which one is bigger?

Watch out

This one is trickier than comparing 3/4 and 1/4. When the bottom numbers are different, your gut can point the wrong way. What could we do to settle it for certain?

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Watch and Notice ~10 mins

Each pair shows two strips of the same length, cut into different numbers of pieces. Watch how we decide which fraction is bigger — sometimes by matching the pieces, sometimes with a quicker check. See if you can predict the winner before it appears.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Try It Together ~10 mins

The board has two twelfths strips, an eighths strip and a fifths strip, all blank to start. We build each of these pairs together, one at a time: 1/2 versus 1/4, then 3/8 versus 1/2, then 3/4 versus 3/5, then 3/4 versus 2/3. Each pair asks a bit more of us than the last. Before we shade each one, predict which strategy fits best: common denominator, benchmark to a half, or common numerator (same top number). When a fraction has no strip of its own, build it on a twelfths strip: six twelfths is one half, three twelfths is one quarter, nine twelfths is three quarters and eight twelfths is two thirds.

Compare the pairs together

+15 XP

4 - Work the Comparison in Your Copy ~2 mins

COPYBOOK MOMENT

In your maths copy, work each comparison and put the correct sign between the two fractions. For each pair, choose the smartest strategy — sometimes you re-write over a common bottom number, and sometimes you spot a quicker route.

Write these three pairs, one under the other:

2/3 and 3/4
5/8 and 3/4
4/9 and 4/11

The first two pairs are easiest over a common bottom number. The last pair, 4/9 and 4/11, has the same top number, so you do not need to convert — just compare the slice sizes. Circle the bigger fraction in each pair.

+10 XP

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

Key point

Today we work through these comparisons: 5/6 versus 7/8, then 3/10 versus 2/5, then the stretch 7/12 versus 5/8. Each one is a step trickier than the last. Predict the bigger fraction before we shade and check.

Which fraction is bigger?

+15 XP

Pupil practice

Module 3 · Fractions, Decimals and Percentages Number

Lesson 36 · Comparing Two Fractions

Download Activity Book page (PDF)

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