Have you ever shared a pizza with a friend? Or eaten just one part of a chocolate bar? If you have, you already know about fractions! Fractions are a way to talk about parts of a whole thing.

Think about a birthday cake. If you cut it into 4 equal slices and eat one slice, you've eaten a fraction of the cake. Fractions help us understand and count pieces that are smaller than one whole.

Every fraction has two parts: a top number and a bottom number. They are separated by a line.

• The top number is called the numerator.
• The bottom number is called the denominator.

So, if you have a pizza cut into 4 slices and you eat 1 slice, you ate 1/4 of the pizza. The numerator, 1, tells you how many slices you ate.

The denominator, 4, tells you that the whole pizza was cut into 4 equal pieces. The more pieces you cut, the bigger the denominator gets!

It's easiest to understand fractions when you can see them. Let's look at a few examples using shapes.

Imagine a circle. If we cut it into two equal parts and shade one part, we have shaded 1/2 of the circle.

Now let's take a rectangle, or a bar. If we divide it into three equal parts and shade two of them, we have shaded 2/3 of the bar.

Using shapes, blocks, or even folding paper can help you see what a fraction looks like. It's a great way to practice!

Let's check what you've learned about fractions!

Great work! Now you know what fractions are and how to name their parts.