Equivalent Fractions for Elementary Students: Drills and Practice

Overview of Fractions at the Elementary Level

Your third grader will learn to recognize and create simple equivalent fractions. Your child will also recognize whole numbers that equal fractions. Fourth graders are expected to explain why some fractions are equal. Fifth graders use their knowledge of equivalent fractions to solve addition and subtraction problems containing fractions.

To create equivalent fractions, multiply the numerator and denominator by the same number. For instance, to find an equivalent fraction for 5/6, multiply both five and six by two (5 x 2 = 10 and 6 x 2 = 12). As a result, 5/6 is equivalent to 10/12.

Equivalent Fractions Drills and Practice

1. What are three fractions that are equivalent to 3/5?

To create equivalent fractions, your child should choose a number to multiply the numerator and denominator by. For the fraction 3/5, your child could come up with these possible equivalent fractions: 6/10, 9/15 and 12/20.

2. Bob ran around 2/3 of the track. If Jake ran an equal amount of the track, how much of the track could he have run?

To determine an equivalent fraction your child could multiply: 2/3 x 2/2 = 4/6. Other options are: 2/3 x 3/3 = 6/9 or 2/3 x 4/4 = 8/12.

3. Jane told her brother that she ate 3/4 of the cupcakes. What is an equivalent fraction that could represent the actual amount of cupcakes Jane ate?

To calculate an equivalent fraction your child can multiply: 3/4 x 2/2 = 6/8 or 3/4 x 6/6 = 18/24.

4. At a party, 1/3 of the sweets on the buffet were pieces of coconut pie. If there were an equivalent amount of chocolate pie pieces on the buffet, how much would there be?

To solve this problem, your child could multiply: 1/3 x 3/3 = 3/9 or 1/3 x 5/5 = 5/15. Keep in mind that as long as your child multiplies the numerator and denominator by the same number, the fractions will be equivalent.

5. After the graduation party was over, there were 6/8 of the brownies left. If an equal amount of cookies were left, what would the fraction of cookies be?

Your child could multiply: 6/8 x 2/2 = 12/16 or 6/8 x 4/4 = 24/32. As previously mentioned, your child can pick any number to multiply the fraction by.