When you're adding and subtracting fractions, they won't always have denominators that match up. You'll need to find the least common denominator in order to solve the problem.
For this activity, you will need a pair of dice, a sheet of paper, and a pen or pencil. Start by practicing what you know about fractions. Roll a pair of dice. The two numbers that appear will be your first fraction. Roll the dice again, and these two numbers will be your second fraction. Use the least common denominator to add the two fractions together. You can repeat this process as many times as you like to give you extra practice.
Now, here's a word problem that will challenge you to solve problems involving unlike denominators.
You're going to your friend's birthday party, and you're making some punch. The recipe calls for:
Answer the following questions:
- How many total cups of juice are in the punch?
- How many cups of orange juice plus tomato juice are in the punch? Is this more or less than the amount of lemon juice plus grape juice?
- Imagine that you did not have any tomato juice, so you replaced it with more grape juice instead. How many cups of grape juice are now in the punch?
Ready to move on to the next lesson?
Finding the Common Denominator
