Introduction
Why are fractions important? Fractions are everywhere, not just in math. They are used on a daily basis whether you know it or not and most imporant, they are inevitable. What do I mean? I mean when your parent is rushing you for school and they tell you "You have half an hour before school," that means that you have 30 minutes left out of the 60 minutes in one hour to finish getting dressed. That is 1 half or 1/2, a fraction. Lets see where else we use fractions.
Task
My daughter is challenging me that not enough fractions are used on a daily basis in order to consider this topic important enough to learn. I, the math educator, can prove her wrong in various ways BUT I choose not to because that is not how one learns. They learn rather by watching, observing, and doing. By explaing to her I am talking to a brick wall. Your task is to demonstrate how fractions are used outside of the math book and why it is essential that we have some knowledge on their importance. Not only will my daughter be overwhelemed with your research but I will also see how much youve learned about fractions on your own.
Process
Look up examples on fractions, dont limit yourself to the math book. Anything can be a fraction; money, time, volume, heck even people.
1. Find your example
2. Take that example and write out a real life summary on how that example is, or can be, used.
EX: Mary's school each year uses 1/5 of the schools budget on prom. After calculating expenses, prom will total out to 3,750. After finding out the schools budget, will the senior class have enough money to take their senior trip to the river, total 7,000, by only using 3/5 of the budget?
4. Your work may not resemble mine, but must be written out followed by the work shown after the summary
5. At the bottom write out why this problem is important and why fractions were important
EX: My problem was important because by learning what a fraction of the whole was we can figure out the whole and figure out if the seniors have enough money for their class trip
6. I WILL work out your problems so check, check and recheck your work.
Sites to help you if you are stuck...
http://www.numbernut.com/fractions/fraction-realworld.html
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/finding-quotreal-lifequot-fr…
Evaluation
You will be graded on:
Accuracy of work 5 pts
Why fractions are important 5 pts
How detailed your problem is with numbers 10 pts
Conclusion
I hope my daughter has a vast selection of scenarios to prove her theories otherwise, but more importantly I hope you are personally better educated on the importance of fractions. They aren't some numbers thrown into a problem, they are a way of life and the more you know how to manipulate those numbers the less dependent you will be on others to solve your problems.
I will pick the more detailed, and correct, problems as part of a test so study, buddy up with someone and grade each other's homework. You never know if yours will be selected.
Credits
http://www.numbernut.com/fractions/fraction-realworld.html
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/finding-quotreal-lifequot-fr…
Also would like to thank my high school algebra teacher for lighting up the fire in me to learn fractions outside the math book.