Comparing Fractions.  Mathematics Instructional Plans (MIPs) help teachers align instruction with the 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning (SOL) by providing examples of how the knowledge, skills and processes found in the SOL and curriculum framework can be presented to students in the classroom.

This video is part of the Continue to Know with WHRO TV series. Watch Kyle Snyder teach how to compare fractions.

This Desmos activity has students partiiton a fraction into fourths, model a fraction, and then determine if the fraction is more than, less than, or equal to 1/2 by looking at the denominator.

Students learn about and practice converting between fractions, decimals and percentages. Using a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT robot and a touch sensor, each group inputs a fraction of its choosing. Team members convert this same fraction into a decimal, and then a percentage via hand calculations, and double check their work using the NXT robot. Then they observe the robot moving forward and record that distance. Students learn that the distance moved is a fraction of the full distance, based on the fraction that they input, so if they input ½, the robot moves half of the original distance. From this, students work backwards to compute the full distance. Groups then compete in a game in which they are challenged to move the robot as close as possible to a target distance by inputting a fraction into the NXT bot.

HyperDocs are GoogleDocs that allow students to interact with teacher-curated content to explore a subject.  This HyperDoc, created by Fern Vogt, focuses on equivalent fractions.  There are Khan Academy videos and plenty of opportunities for students to practice.

This video is part of the Continue to Know with WHRO TV series. Watch Kathryn Turner teach about equivalent fractions, decimals, and percentages using models and real-life scenarios.

This video is part of the Continue to Know with WHRO TV series. Watch Kyle Snyder teach about how fractions are actually division problems.

This is a google slides lesson comparing fractions, decimals, and percents.  Students will identify each value that represents the shaded part of the grid by highlighting the text.  They will select all answers that apply.

VA SOL 4.2b: The students will represent equivalent fractions.This remix provides some guidance to teachers on preparing students for the lesson.

Working as a team, students discover that the value of pi (3.1415926...) is a constant and applies to all different sized circles. The team builds a basic robot and programs it to travel in a circular motion. A marker attached to the robot chassis draws a circle on the ground as the robot travels the programmed circular path. Students measure the circle's circumference and diameter and calculate pi by dividing the circumference by the diameter. They discover the pi and circumference relationship; the circumference of a circle divided by the diameter is the value of pi.

This video is part of the Continue to Know with WHRO TV series. Watch Kathryn Turner teach about multiplying and dividing fractions and mixed numbers.

Video Description:  At NASA everything begins with an idea. Physical models help NASA engineers and technicians test those ideas before building full-scale versions. Learn more about the important role physical modeling, building prototypes and mathematics play in engineering solutions.  Video Length:  3:11.NASA eClipsTM is a suite of online student-centered, standards-based resources that support instruction by increasing STEM literacy in formal and nonformal settings.  These free digital and downloadable resources inform and engage students through NASA-inspired, real-world connections.NASA eClips Real World segments (grades 6-8) connect classroom mathematics to 21st Century careers and innovations.  They are designed for students to develop an appreciation for mathematics through real-world problem solving.

This video is part of the Continue to Know with WHRO TV series. Watch Jessica Scott teach about negative exponents for powers of ten.

This video is part of the Continue to Know with WHRO TV series. Watch Kyle Snyder teach how to order fractions from least to greatest.

Why do we care about air? Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in... most, if not all, humans do this automatically. Do we really know what is in the air we breathe? In this activity, students use M&M(TM) candies to create pie graphs that show their understanding of the composition of air. They discuss why knowing this information is important to engineers and how engineers use this information to improve technology to better care for our planet.

This video is part of the Continue to Know with WHRO TV series. Watch Kathryn Turner teach about percentages and their equivalent fractions and decimals.

I created this activity to review proper fractions and whole numbers.  Also, it is a beginning lesson for improper fractions and mixed numbers.  This activity supports sol 3.2b, represent fractions and mixed numbers with models and symbols.  This activity begins in small groups of 2-4 students.  The teacher gives 4 cards to each group, one each of proper fraction, whole number, improper fraction, and mixed number and a recording sheet.  The teacher directs the students to work together to write characteristics about the numbers on the cards and draw any models they can but does not tell them the names of improper fractions and mixed numbers.  Activities like this one gives students opportunity for productive struggle by allowing them to collaborate without too much help from the teacher, it is more rigorous, and the result is students have a deeper understanding.