Fractions – the bane of many a pupil’s, parent’s and – let’s be honest – teacher’s life.
With the advent of the calculator, with the ability to do fraction calculations in a snap, I often hear the anguished cry of “what’s the point of this, why can’t I just use my calculator?”
And it is, perhaps, true that the need to do fraction ‘sums’ manually has diminished enormously since the advent of the scientific calculator.
But, as September has come and gone and we find ourselves in mid- October and Year 12 (the lower-sixth in old money) settle down to enjoy the rigours of AS and A-Level maths, one is reminded of the need for A-Level students to be fluent in the manipulation of algebraic fractions. And this is made so much easier if they have met and mastered the four rules (adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing) fractions with numbers earlier in there mathematical journey.
So, whilst it may not be everybody’s favourite topic, it is an important skill to master.
And to help pupils master it, they need to practise it. And to help them practice, I’ve produced some worksheets for adding, multiplying and dividing fractions.
And if you want a worksheet that contains all three types of problems, you can make one using my custom worksheet page (or click here, for one I prepared earlier!)
As with all my worksheets, they generate an unlimited number of different questions, are optimised for printing (so you don’t waste loads of ink), look great on an interactive whiteboard and come complete with the answers – hidden behind a ‘click’ if you’re projecting them onto your board, or printed on a separate sheet if you are printing them out. Oh, and they are entirely free, too!
And the answer to the question at the top of the page? Well it is, of course …
(remember: when multiplying fractions, its top x top, bottom x bottom)
