#STEMsigns of the week… Fraction-related signs! Check out the signs, learn their meaning, and see how they are used in context!
*Signs shown on #STEMsigns are seen and used by the community and are not created by Atomic Hands. We encourage you to evaluate the sign and adopt or discard it; or develop a new sign!
Transcript: Today’s signs of the week are… fraction-related! What are the signs?! Digit. Fraction. Numerator. Denominator. Improper Fraction. Mixed Number. How are the signs all related? Let’s start with a digit. It is single numerical symbol: 0 to 9 We are talking about the Hindu-Arabic numbers; the type of numbers we normally see everywhere. When you put one or more digits together, you get a number. Now, if you have something that is a part of a whole, you use fractions with numbers to represent the concept. We call the top number the numerator – it is the number of parts we have. We call the bottom number the denominator – it is the number of parts the whole is divided into. Let’s use my cats, Jello and Byte, as an example. I cut up two cat treats into four parts and gave it to my cat, Jello. My treat-crazed cat, Byte, stole one part from Jello! VIDEO How do I express the amount of resulting treats in fractions Remember, the denominator represents how many equally sized pieces I break ONE treat into. Since each treat was broken down into four parts, the denominator will be four. How many parts does Jello have left after being robbed? Seven. So the numerator will be seven. Seven over four is an improper fraction. Why? The numerator is greater than the denominator. Now, if I prefer to see the fraction in an easier way, I can convert it to a mixed number. A mixed number consists of a whole number and a proper fraction. The proper fraction requires the numerator to be less than the denominator. So, how do we convert seven over four into a mixed number? Seven parts can be grouped into three and four, and four pieces of fourths is a whole. So we can put together a whole piece, and have three fourths left. The mixed number will be one and three fourths. And voila! We have one and three fourths.
