Introduction
Do fractions cause you friction? Frustration? Fright? Same with percents and decimals, which are just fractions with decimal points and percent signs in them?
Or you see a recipe serving eight, and you only need to serve six and you have no idea how much to reduce the ingredients without guessing? Then you wind up with a dish too watery or too dry?
Do you go into a store to buy something that is "6 for $1.00" but you only need two and you have no idea if you have enough money?
Do you fret over paying tips in a fine restaurant that requires a 15% gratuity, not knowing the easy way to figure out approximately what 15% of the bill is, then, embarrassed, you have to have the cashier figure it out?
You can do fractions on paper in a very laborious fashion, but can't do them in your head in a pinch?
If any of the above is true then you may have "math anxiety" over fractions. It could be that all you need is a refresher course, that you didn't "get it the first time", that you need more help with fractions, say, for the GED test or College Boards, or you can do the math but not in your head when you need it fast, or you can do decimals but not fractions, or you can do some fractions but not others, or you forgot how to reduce fractions and have no idea what a "greatest common factor" is. So this course is for anyone who gets frustrated over any aspect of working with fractions.
In this course you will learn (or re-learn) the following: the relationship between fractions, decimals, and percents; the difference between numerator and denominator, a proper and improper fraction, fractions and mixed numbers (and the fact that ALL whole numbers can be expressed as fractions); ratios and proportions, finding the "greatest common factor" and using this to reduce fractions; what fractions can be reduced and the easy way to tell if a fraction can be reduced; adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing fractions, mixed numbers; solving proportions; doing fractions in your head and other shortcuts, solving practical real-world problems involving all of the above. When you complete the course you should be able to work fractions with more confidence and less anxiety!
Here is a quick mini-lesson on fractions:
Mrs. Jones is making muffins for three. The recipe she is using is a recipe that serves four. Her daughter, Pat, is helping her.
"I'm making muffins for three, Pat, but my favorite recipe serves four."
"Why don't you just make the recipe for four? You know dad always likes to make a pig of himself!"
"That's the problem! You know he's trying to lower his cholesterol...I can't let him overeat so I have to turn a recipe for four into a recipe for three."
"So that means," Pat retorts, "that you have to take three fourths of all the ingredients. How do you take three fourths of 2 teaspoons of baking powder?"
"Common sense, Pat. I use one whole teaspoon, then 1/2 teaspoon."
"You sure about that?"
"Yes, because 3/4 of 2 is 3/4 times 2 which is 6/4 which is 1 1/2, correct? Heck, you ought to remember that since you're still in school. I got out 23 years ago!"
"Wow," Pat exclaimed. "Three-fourths of two means 3/4 times 2! 'Of' means multiply! My teacher never told us that."
Lessons
Click here to see course syllabus
