Monday, November 15, 2010

Pumpkin Pie Fractions


Remember our pumpkin pie craft from stART last week? After leaving them on the table, for several days, for the girls to enjoy, I decided it was time to recycle them into simple, math manipulatives.

First, before the girls got up, I replaced the plastic bag, whipped cream, with a flatter paper version.

Then, I cut one of the pies into various sized pieces, from 1/2 to 1/16, writing the fractions on the bottom.

I, also, wrote out the fractions, nice and big, on two "menus", so when they got up, the girls could order a slice of their pie, to go with their breakfast.

Of course, the trick for this sort of thing, is to keep older brothers, and sisters from telling the secret of fractions. Left to their own devices, younger children will usually pick the fraction with the largest denominator, thinking they will get the largest piece. My children were no exception

Then, they were surprised, when the tiny piece was served, instead. When it comes to fractions, a bigger denominator, means a smaller piece of the whole - lesson learned.

Now, they can head off with their slices of pie, to play coffee shop, on their own, wiser to the world of fractions.

For more fun with math, check out this weeks Math Monday link-up, hosted by Joyful Learner.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

9 comments:

Debbie said...

I love this approach, a lesson that will not be forgotten soon.

Christy Killoran said...

This is a great idea. I was going to have my kids each make one slice of cardboard pumpkin pie, but now I am going to have them make the whole pie.

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

I like this idea, but somehow my daughter intuitively understands division and knows that 1/2 is more than, say, 1/8. Still - this is a fun intro to fractions.

Phyllis said...

Fun idea! My boys would have a lot of fun playing restaurant with this.

Ticia said...

What no real pie?

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Ticia - It was the kids' breakfast, not mine :)

Emily Kate said...

Love that you reused the craft for a math activity. What a great idea.

Joyful Learner said...

We have a fractions pie game but this is even better because it's authentic (ordering pies) and it's home made pie! ;)

kewkew said...

Love the pie craft and the way you extended it into the math lesson. Great idea, thanks for sharing.