Curriculum
Beast Academy
$99.99/yr(0)
Fraction number line
Number line from 0 to 3 marked in fourths · 1 page
Explore number sense programs
See all math programs →Compare listed prices and grade ranges. Save favorites on this device; directory inclusion does not imply funding approval. Confirm current prices and availability with the provider.
This fraction number line goes from 0 to 3, with each whole split into fourths and labeled 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, then 1 1/4, 1 2/4 and so on. Labels are not simplified on purpose: seeing 2/4 sit exactly where 1/2 would be is how kids discover equivalent fractions.
In the Common Core standards, 3rd graders first place fractions on a number line (3.NF.A.2), learning that 1/4 means the distance from 0 to the first of four equal parts of a whole. Mixed numbers and fractions greater than 1 come next. Change Smaller marks to halves, thirds, sixths, eighths or twelfths, or label the marks as decimals instead.
Tips for using it
- Ask: how many fourths make one whole? Count the hops from 0 to 1.
- Print a halves line and a fourths line and lay them on top of each other to compare.
Variations
All printable number lineQuestions
How do you put fractions on a number line?
Split the space between 0 and 1 into as many equal parts as the denominator. Count parts from zero using the numerator. For 3/4, split into four parts and count three.
Why does it say 2/4 instead of 1/2?
So kids can see the equivalence themselves. 2/4 lands in the same place as 1/2, which is the definition of equal fractions.