Many new operations with fractions worksheets were added to Math-Drills in the fall. The new operations with fractions worksheets include a lot of new options plus a revision of older worksheets. The changes are detailed below.
Fillable vs. Not Fillable
Throughout the operations with fractions worksheets, you will find there are fillable and non-fillable options.
Fillable worksheets can be completed on the screen, saved and/or printed with any changes that were made. Specific fillable fields are placed in the right locations to complete each question. Because of this, these worksheets could also be considered to contain “prompts” that help students complete each question. They also include an example question at the start with word prompts that describe what is to be done at each step. Teachers can remove the numbers from the example question if it isn’t needed or add additional scaffolding by completing some of the other question parts.
The non-fillable worksheets are traditional worksheets that generally get printed or shown on a display for students to copy down. There are no prompts.
It should also be noted that the answer keys in both fillable and non-fillable versions show a number of steps necessary to complete the question. In some cases, teachers might not require the same steps that are on the answer key. For example, a multiplication question such as 5/3 × 3/4, some students would cancel out the 3s before multiplying since 3/3 is equal to one. On the answer key, though, you will find the intermediate step (15/12) and the simplified step (5/4), and after that, you will find the improper fraction converted to a mixed number (1 1/4). Essentially, all the steps are included, but you might not use them all.
Multiplying and Dividing Fractions
There are many options for multiplying and dividing proper fractions, improper fractions, mixed fractions and whole numbers. Additionally, there are options for questions with no simplifying, all simplifying and some simplifying. All this choice means that students don’t have to know everything all at once. They could start with multiplying two proper fractions that result in an answer that doesn’t require simplifying. After that maybe they complete questions with a few improper fractions thrown in. Eventually, they learn about simplifying fractions and can apply that to the results of dividing fractions questions. There are many factors involved in deciding the best approach and since all students learn at different paces Math-Drills offers as much choice as possible. If you aren’t sure where to start, search on the website for “multiply fraction” and make sure the results are sorted by popularity and you will see what others use the most.
Adding and Subtracting Fractions
When it comes to adding and subtracting fractions, the denominators are very important. If they are equal, then the operation is a cinch. If they are similar (like 4 and 8 are both multiples of 4) or unlike, students need to first find equivalent fractions that will work. Adding and subtracting fractions worksheets have options that focus on their denominators. Similar to the multiplying and dividing fractions worksheets, there are also options for the results (proper, mixed, simplifying).
Without getting into too much detail, just know that there are a lot of options for operations with fractions worksheets. There are even a few worksheets that include negative fractions. Visit the Fractions Worksheets Page on Math-Drills to see what is available.
