4th grade · Math · Unit 4 of 17
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.
New York State Learning Standards learning standard: NY-4.NF.1; NY-4.NF.2 · 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 New York
In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 4 of 17 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
Put the fractions in order from least to greatest.
- 1/10
- 1/6
- 1/5
- 1/7
1/10 → 1/7 → 1/6 → 1/5
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 2
Which sign goes in the box?
3/5 3/12
- <
- =
- >
>
Hint: Both have 3 parts. A whole cut into fewer parts has bigger parts: one 5-part piece is bigger than one 12-part piece. So 3/5 is bigger than 3/12.
Question 3
Which fraction is greater than 1/2?
- 3/12
- 3/5
- 1/4
3/5
Hint: Double the top number and compare it with the bottom number. For 3/5: 3 + 3 = 6, which is more than 5, so it's more than half.
Question 4
What fraction is shaded?
answer box
4/5
Hint: Count all the equal parts (5). That's the bottom number. Count the shaded parts (4). That's the top number.
Question 5
Priya ran 2/3 of a trail. Lena ran 2/7 of the same trail. Who ran farther?
🏃- They are the same
- Lena
- Priya
Priya
Hint: Both ran 2 parts. A trail cut into fewer parts has longer parts, so the smaller bottom number is farther.
Question 6
Which fraction is equal to 2/5?
- 5/10
- 4/10
- 3/10
4/10
Hint: Multiply the top and the bottom by the same number: 2 × 2 = 4 and 5 × 2 = 10. Same amount, just more pieces.