The purpose of this task is for students to compare a number and its product with other numbers that are greater than and less than one.

The purpose of this task is to have students think about the meaning of multiplying a number by a fraction, and to use this understanding of fraction multiplication to make sense of the commutative property of multiplication in the case of fractions.

This task requires students to recognize both "number of groups unknown" and "group size unknown" division problems in the context of a whole number divided by a unit fraction.

This problem involves fraction multiplication that can be solved with pictures or number lines.

This task builds on a fifth grade fraction multiplication task and uses the identical context, but asks the corresponding ŇNumber of Groups UnknownÓ division problem.

This task builds on a fifth grade fraction multiplication task and uses the identical context, but asks the corresponding ŇNumber of Groups UnknownÓ division problem.

The purpose of this task is to provide students with a concrete experience they can relate to fraction multiplication. Perhaps more importantly, the task also purposefully relates length and locations of points on a number line, a common trouble spot for students. This task is meant for instruction and would be a useful as part of an introductory unit on fraction multiplication.

In this unit, students begin their work with operating with fractions by understanding them as a sum of unit fractions or a product of a whole number and a unit fraction. Students will then add fractions with like denominators and multiply a whole number by any fraction. Students will apply this knowledge to word problems and line plots.

In Grade 3, students developed their understanding of the meaning of fractions, especially using the number line to make sense of fractions as numbers themselves. They also did some rudimentary work with equivalent fractions and comparison of fractions. In Grade 4 Unit 5, they deepened this understanding of equivalence and comparison, learning the fundamental property that “multiplying the numerator and denominator of a fraction by the same non-zero whole number results in a fraction that represents the same number as the original fraction” (NF Progression, p. 6).

Thus, in this unit, armed with a deep understanding of fractions and their value, students start to operate on them for the first time. The unit is structured so that students build their understanding of fraction operations gradually, first working with the simplest case where the total is a fraction less than 1, then the case where the total is a fraction between 1 and 2 (to understand regrouping when operating in simple cases), and finally the case where the total is a fraction greater than 2. With each of these numerical cases, they first develop an understanding of non-unit fractions as sums and multiples of unit fractions. Next, they learn to add and subtract fractions. And finally, they apply these understandings to complex cases, such as word problems or fraction addition involving fractions where one denominator is a divisor of the other, which helps prepare students for similar work with decimal fractions in Unit 7. After working with all three numerical cases in the context of fraction addition and subtraction, they work with fraction multiplication, learning strategies for multiplying a whole number by a fraction and a mixed number and using those skills in the context of word problems. Finally, students apply this unit’s work to the context of line plots. Students will solve problems by using information presented in line plots, requiring them to use their recently acquired skills of fraction addition, subtraction, and even multiplication, creating a contextual way for this supporting cluster content to support the major work of the grade. The unit provides lots of opportunity for students to reason abstractly and quantitatively (MP.2) and construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others (MP.3).

In Grade 5 Unit 5, students continue their exploration with fraction operations, deepening their understanding of fraction multiplication from Grade 4 and introducing them to fraction division.

Students began learning about fractions very early, as described in the Unit 4 Unit Summary. However, students’ exposure to fraction multiplication only began in Grade 4, when they learned to multiply a fraction by a whole number, interpreting this as repeated addition. For example, 4×2/3 is thought of as 4 copies of 2 thirds. This understanding is reliant on an understanding of multiplication as equal groups (3.OA.1). In Grade 4, however, students also developed an understanding of multiplicative comparison (4.OA.1), which will be of particular importance to the new ways in which students will interpret fraction multiplication in this unit.

The unit begins with students developing a new understanding of fractions as division. In the past, they’ve thought of fractions as equal-sized partitions of wholes, but here they develop an understanding of a fraction as an operation itself and represent division problems as fractions (5.NF.3). Students now see that remainders can be interpreted in yet another way, namely divided by the divisor to result in a mixed-number quotient. Then, students develop a new understanding of fraction multiplication as fractional parts of a set of a certain size (5.NF.4), which is a new interpretation of multiplicative comparison. Students use this understanding to develop general methods to multiply fractions by whole numbers and fractions, including mixed numbers. Throughout this work, students develop an understanding of multiplication as scaling (5.NF.5), “an important opportunity for students to reason abstractly” (MP.2) as the Progressions notes (Progressions for the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics, Number and Operations - Fractions, 3-5, p. 14). Then, students explore division of a unit fraction by a whole number and a whole number by a unit fraction (5.NF.7), preparing students to divide with fractions in all cases in Grade 6 (6.NS.1). Then, students also solve myriad word problems, seeing the strategies they used to solve word problems with whole numbers still apply but that special attention should be paid to the whole being discussed (5.NF.6, MP.4), as well as write and solve expressions involving fractions as a way to support the major work (5.OA.1, 5.OA.2). Finally, students make line plots to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit and solve problems involving information presented in line plots (5.MD.2), a supporting cluster standard that supports the major work of this and the past unit of using all four operations with fractions (5.NF).

This task involves fraction multiplication that can be solved with pictures or number lines.

This tasks lends itself very well to multiple solution methods. Students may learn a lot by comparing different methods. Students who are already comfortable with fraction multiplication can go straight to the numeric solutions given below. Students who are still unsure of the meanings of these operations can draw pictures or diagrams.

The purpose of this task is for students to find the answer to a question in context that can be represented by fraction multiplication. This task is appropriate for either instruction or assessment depending on how it is used and where students are in their understanding of fraction multiplication.

This task helps students understand that when you multiply by a number you always get a bigger number.

This task involves fraction multiplication and can be solved with pictures or number lines.

This task requires students to be able to reason abstractly about fraction multiplication as it would not be realistic for them to solve it using a visual fraction model. Even though the numbers are too messy to draw out an exact picture, this task still provides opportunities for students to reason about their computations to see if they make sense.