Visual Fractions

Book excerpt: This math workbook from the Dr. Pi Squared Math Workbooks series aims to teach what a fraction is and help kids visualize fractions. It is designed for kids who are just learning about fractions. The problems consist of colorful pictures from which kids are to determine fractions. The book begins with circles cut into pie slices, from halves to twelfths. The students need to determine what fraction of each pie is blue, yellow, and red. For example, if a pie is divided into fourths, two of which are blue, one yellow, and the other red, the student would answer one-half, one-fourth, and one-fourth. After ample practice with pie slices, the workbook moves onto triangles, squares, and hexagons. A couple of pages include groups of circles where kids need to determine fractions greater than one - for example, two and a half circles might be colored green. Other visual fraction problems include rectangles, smiley faces, arrows, letters, and numbers. Toward the end of the workbook, some questions ask about more than just colors - like what fraction of the arrows point up, or what fraction of the letters are vowels. Answers are nicely organized by page number in the back of the book to allow students, parents, or teachers to quickly check the answers. There is ample workspace for students to write large answers and still fit their solutions comfortably into the space provided. The problems appear in a large font size, since students usually write larger than standard textbook fonts. High-quality, durable, bright paper is used (instead of standard workbook paper, which often tears easily and appears dull in color).