standard_description: Understand a fraction 1/b as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts; understand a fraction a/b as the quantity formed by a parts of size 1/b.
Grade 3 expectations in this domain are limited to fractions with denominators 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8.
problem_activity: Task
Your teacher was just awarded \$1,000 to spend on materials for your classroom.  She asked all 20 of her students in the class to help her decide how to spend the money.  Think about which supplies will benefit the class the most.
|                                                    Supplies                                                    | Cost  |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------|
|                                              A box of 20 markers                                               |  \$5  |
|                                              A box of 100 crayons                                              |  \$8  |
|                                              A box of 60 pencils                                               |  \$5  |
|                                     A box of 5,000 pieces of printer paper                                     | \$40  |
|                                      A package of 10 pads of lined paper                                       | \$15  |
|                                    A box of 50 pieces of construction paper                                    | \$32  |
|                                                 Books and maps                                                 |       |
|                                        A set of 20 books about science                                         | \$250 |
|                                       A set of books about the 50 states                                       | \$400 |
|                                   A story book (there are 80 to choose from)                                   |  \$8  |
| A map: there is one of your city, one for every state, one of the country, and one of the world to choose from | \$45  |
|                                               Puzzles and games                                                |       |
|                                     Puzzles (there are 30 to choose from)                                      | \$12  |
|                                   Board games (there are 40 to choose from)                                    | \$15  |
|                                 Interactive computer games (math and reading)                                  | \$75  |
|                                                 Special Items                                                  |       |
|                                    A bean bag chair for the reading corner                                     | \$350 |
Write down the different items and how many of each you would choose. Find the total for each category.
Supplies
Books and maps
Puzzles and games
Special items
Create a bar graph to represent how you would spend the money.  Scale the vertical axis by \$100.  Write all of the labels.
What was the total cost of all your choices?  Did you have any money left over?  If so, how much?
Compare your choices with a partner. How much more or less did you choose to spend on each category than your partner? How much more or less did you choose to spend in total than your partner?


aligns: no