ABE Math: Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages - PART I

In afternoon class today, we worked with fractions, decimals, and percentages (or percents, for short). Yes, I said fractions....

Oh, the horror! Lol. 

If I had a nickel for every time I heard the words, "I hate fractions," I'd be a rich lady, indeed. However, I believe that most people hate fractions because they have to try to remember the rules of how to compute them without fully understanding the reasoning behind those rules and/or the relationships between fractions, decimals, percentages, and ratios. This is a losing battle. You can't build a house on sand, nor can you learn to apply math without a firm understanding of the foundations of number theory. So let's get started before we change our minds...

The Great Divide

What do you get when you divide a whole? You end up with parts of that whole. If I divide a whole pizza, then I have slices, which are parts of a whole pizza. If I divide a whole dollar, I end up with coins, which are parts of a whole dollar. 

Division creates fractions, decimals and percents. This is where you must begin your understanding: all fractions, decimals, and percentages are parts of a whole. Because they are all parts of a whole, we can use fractions/decimals/percents interchangeably, but more on that later. For now, let's take a close look at fractions and decimals.

Fractions & Decimals

I'm going to start this section by introducing you to Math Antics, one of my favorite YouTubers. Here is an entire playlist of 16 separate, short videos on fractions. This series explains what fractions are, how they relate to decimals, and how to work with fractions.

Next week, we will be moving from fractions and decimals to percentages.

Stay tuned!
-Jc