Mastering Fractions | Article #2 in a Series | Adding Fractions
ADDING FRACTIONS | REVIEW FIRST
Most of my high school students struggle with Adding Fractions, and it seems that many of my subscribers do too. That is why my first series is on Fractions. In Lesson 1, I introduced the concept of fractions, and how I Use Color in Math to help people recognize which part of the fraction I’m working with.
The Numerator is how many parts we have, and the Denominator is how many parts the whole is equally and evenly divided into. So whenever you watch one of our YouTube videos or read one of our articles on Fractions, the Numerator is always red and the Denominator is always blue. Color-coding quickly reminds students what part they are using as they work through a problem.
ADDING FRACTIONS | SAME DENOMINATOR
When Adding Fractions, the Denominator must always be the same. Let’s use ¼ as our example today, since there are so many real-world applications such as with time and money.
In this example, the Denominators are the same. So we keep the COMMON Denominator, and then add the Numerators.
ALWAYS SIMPLIFY
However, this isn’t the FINAL answer. In math, unless otherwise directed, you ALWAYS simplify.
Both the Numerator and Denominator can be divided by the same number, 2. Let me show you.
Please comment below if this article has helped you understand Fractions. Stay tuned for Article #3 | Adding Fractions Uncommon Denominators; I’ll be posting it this week. We would love to hear your suggestions. Please email me, mrs@mrandmrsmath.com, with any ideas for future posts.
Mrs Math
