standard_description: Understand a fraction as a number on the number line; represent fractions on a number line diagram.
Grade 3 expectations in this domain are limited to fractions with denominators 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8.
problem_activity: Activity
The purpose of this task is to introduce students to the idea of a proportional relationship. From previous work, students should be familiar with the idea of equivalent ratios, and they may very well recognize the table as a set of equivalent ratios. Here, we are starting to expand this concept and the language associated with it to say that there is a proportional relationship between the cups of rice and number of people as well as the number of spring rolls and number of people. More generally, there is a proportional relationship between two quantities when the quantities are characterized by a set of equivalent ratios.
The context in this activity and the numbers used are intended to be accessible to all students so that they can focus on its mathematical structure (MP7) and the new terms introduced in the lesson without being distracted.
While students are working, monitor for groups using each of these approaches:
Drawing that depicts 15 cups of rice and 45 people, organized into three people per cup. This representation of the problem can support all learners in moving forward. The teacher should highlight the organization of three people per cup, and identify correspondences between parts of the drawing and numbers in the table.
Moving down the table, multiplying both numbers in a row by the same number. “Since I multiply 2 by 5 to get 10, I will multiply 6 by 5 and get 30. Since 9 times 5 is 45, I will also multiply 3 by 5 to get 15.” If it comes up, the most appropriate name for the multiplier would be
scale factor
, but it is not necessary for students to call it this.
Calculation and use of a unit rate. “I reasoned that 1 cup of rice must serve 3 people. So 10 cups of rice must serve 30, and 15 cups must serve 45.”
Moving across the table. “It looks like we always multiply number of cups of rice by 3 to get the number of people it serves, so I will multiply 10 cups by 3 to get 30, and divide the 45 by 3 to get 15.”
Launch
Say, “Rice is a big part of the traditions and cultures of many families. Does your family cook rice, and if so, how?" Invite a student to describe the process (measure rice, measure water, simmer for a while). You use more rice for more people and less rice for fewer people. If students have trouble understanding or representing the context, show them the measuring cup so that they have a sense of its size, or draw a literal diagram that looks something like this:
[IMG]
Similarly, ask students if they have ever eaten a spring roll and invite them to describe what they are. While some spring rolls can be very large, the ones referred to in this activity are smaller.
Engagement: Develop Effort and Persistence.
Encourage and support opportunities for peer interactions. Invite students to talk about their ideas with a partner before writing them down. Display sentence frames to support students when they explain their strategy. For example, “First, I _____ because _____. Then, I….,” “I noticed _____ so I….,” and “I tried _____ and what happened was….”
Supports accessibility for: Language; Social-emotional skills
Student Facing
A recipe says that 2 cups of dry rice will serve 6 people. Complete the table as you answer the questions. Be prepared to explain your reasoning.
How many people will 10 cups of rice serve?
How many cups of rice are needed to serve 45 people?
| cups of rice | number of people |
|--------------|------------------|
|      2       |        6         |
|      3       |        9         |
|      10      |                  |
|              |        45        |
A recipe says that 6 spring rolls will serve 3 people. Complete the table.
| number of spring rolls | number of people |
|------------------------|------------------|
|           6            |        3         |
|           30           |                  |
|           40           |                  |
|                        |        28        |
Student Response
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Activity Synthesis
Select students to share their approaches using the sequence listed in the Activity Narrative.
After students have shared their reasoning and connections have been drawn between the different approaches, introduce the term
proportional relationship
. For example, “Whenever we have a situation like this where two quantities are always in the same ratio, we say there is a proportional relationship between the quantities. So the relationship between the number of cups of rice and the number of people is a proportional relationship. The number of cups of rice is proportional to the number of people.” Write out some of these statements for all to see (in the next activity, students will need to write a statement like these about a different relationship). If the class has a word wall or students keep track of mathematical vocabulary in their notebooks, these new terms can be included there.
Notice that methods 2 and 3 involve identifying relationships of column entries, namely that the entry in the right-hand column is three times the corresponding entry in the left-hand column. This pattern can be explained in terms of the
unit rate
(people per cup of rice), which tells us how many people we can serve with a given amount of rice. The next activity is intended to build the understanding underlying this explanation.
After discussing the rice context thoroughly, ask students to share their solution approaches to the spring roll context. Ask students to identify and interpret the unit rate in this situation (0.5 people per spring roll may sound strange, but it means that 1 spring roll only halfway satisfies a person.)


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