Calculating a fraction of an amount
It is a fairly common life skill to have to calculate the fraction of an amount.
If we are dealing with a unit fraction (where the numerator is a 1, such as ½,¼,â…“,â…™) then we simply divide the number by the numerator. So, to find out ½ of a number we divide that number by 2; to find â…“ of a number, divide that number by 3.
This video demonstrates how to find a non-unit fraction of an amount using a bar model method.
Finding the Whole
Finally, we can use a bar model approach to calculate what the whole if we start by knowing what a fraction of that amount was.