Fractions on a number line
Move fluently between real-world situations, diagrams, number lines, and symbolic equations involving multiplication, fractions, and decimals, explaining what each representation shows
What a learner can do afterwards
- Represent a sharing problem as both a fraction diagram and a division equation
- Explain how a bar model for 4 × 23 connects to the area model and the written method
- Translate a decimal on a number line into a fraction and explain the equivalence
The lesson
A number line is a straight line with numbers marked on it in order. Whole numbers like 0, 1, and 2 are easy to spot. Fractions live between the whole numbers too. A fraction like 3/4 sits between 0 and 1, closer to 1.
Mia has 3 pizzas to share equally among 4 friends. She draws a bar split into 4 equal parts and shades 3 of them. That is the same as 3 divided by 4, and it lands at 3/4 on the number line.
You have used bar models before for multiplication. A fraction bar works the same way: split a whole into equal parts, then count how many parts you have. That connects the picture to the number line and to the written fraction.
A number line can also show decimals. The point at 0.75 is the exact same point as 3/4. Different names, same spot.
Fractions and decimals are just different names for the same point on a number line.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.