4th grade · Math · Unit 4 of 15
Fractions
Compare and order fractions
What your child practices
Naming fractions from pictures and number lines, comparing fractions with the same top or bottom number, using 1/2 as a benchmark, and finding equal fractions.
Alabama Course of Study content standard: 4.13; 4.14 · equivalent fractions and comparing fractions
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- The bottom number is how many equal parts. The top is how many we have.
- Equal fractions name the same amount: 1/2 = 2/4.
- Same bottom: compare tops. Same top: more parts means smaller pieces.
Example: Which is bigger: 1/6 or 1/9? Same top number, 1. 9 parts are smaller pieces, so 1/6 is bigger. Answer: 1/6
Fractions in Alabama
In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 4 of 15 in 4th grade Math, after Multiply & Divide and before Decimals.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which fraction is equal to 1/5?
- 1/10
- 2/11
- 2/10
2/10
Hint: Multiply the top and the bottom by the same number: 1 × 2 = 2 and 5 × 2 = 10. Same amount, just more pieces.
Question 2
Ana ran 2/9 of a trail. Priya ran 2/7 of the same trail. Who ran farther?
🏃- Ana
- Priya
- They are the same
Priya
Hint: Both ran 2 parts. A trail cut into fewer parts has longer parts, so the smaller bottom number is farther.
Question 3
Which fraction is greater than 1/2?
- 2/5
- 5/8
- 1/4
5/8
Hint: Double the top number and compare it with the bottom number. For 5/8: 5 + 5 = 10, which is more than 8, so it's more than half.
Question 4
Which sign goes in the box?
1/6 5/6
- <
- =
- >
<
Hint: Both fractions are cut into 6 equal parts, so the parts are the same size. 5 parts is more than 1 part.
Question 5
Put the fractions in order from least to greatest.
- 1/4
- 1/5
- 1/12
- 1/10
1/12 → 1/10 → 1/5 → 1/4
Hint: They all have 1 part. The more pieces a whole is cut into, the smaller each piece. So the biggest bottom number is the least.
Question 6
What fraction is shaded?
answer box
2/4
Hint: Count all the equal parts (4). That's the bottom number. Count the shaded parts (2). That's the top number.