1. Teacher Guide This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble. Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at BingInTheClassroom@Microsoft.com. You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on the Microsoft Educator Network. BingInTheClassroom@Microsoft.combing.com/classroomMicrosoft Educator Network Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location, take a Skype lesson on today’s topic, or invite a guest speaker to expand on today’s subject. And if you are using Windows 8, the panoramas in the MSN Travel App are great teaching tools. We have thousands of other education apps available on Windows here. Skype in the Classroom another class take a Skype lesson invite a guest speaker MSN Travel App here Nell Bang-Jensen is a teacher and theater artist living in Philadelphia, PA. Her passion for arts education has led her to a variety of roles including developing curriculum for Philadelphia Young Playwrights and teaching at numerous theaters and schools around the city. She works with playwrights from ages four to ninety on developing new work and is especially interested in alternative literacies and theater for social change. A graduate of Swarthmore College, she currently works in the Artistic Department of the Wilma Theater and, in addition to teaching, is a freelance actor and dramaturg. In 2011, Nell was named a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and spent her fellowship year traveling to seven countries studying how people get their names. This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Number & Operations—Fractions CCSS.Math.Content.4.NF.A.2CCSS.Math.Content.4.NF.A.2 Compare two fractions with different numerators and different denominators, e.g., by creating common denominators or numerators, or by comparing to a benchmark fraction such as 1/2. Recognize that comparisons are valid only when the two fractions refer to the same whole. Record the results of comparisons with symbols >, =, or <, and justify the conclusions, e.g., by using a visual fraction model. CCSS.Math.Content.4.NF.C.5CCSS.Math.Content.4.NF.C.5 Express a fraction with denominator 10 as an equivalent fraction with denominator 100, and use this technique to add two fractions with respective denominators 10 and 100. 2 For example, express 3/10 as 30/100, and add 3/10 + 4/100 = 34/100.

2. What are three fractions that represent how much of the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season? © Luciano Candisani/Minden Pictures

3. The name for this massive South American alluvial plain, Pantanal, comes from the Portuguese word pântano, which translates roughly to “swamp.” And boy, they aren’t kidding. During the rainy season – November to March – as much as 80 percent of the Pantanal is submerged. So visit during the “dry” season, from around April to October, when the lower water levels make visible the vast array of wildlife in the region. In an area roughly ten times the size of the Everglades, there’s a lot to see here. What are three fractions that represent how much of the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season?

4. 1 Web Search/Thi nking What percentage of the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season? What is the difference between a percentage and a fraction? 2 Web Search/Thi nking What is the difference between a percentage and a decimal? How could you rewrite the percentage that the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season as a decimal? 3 Web Search/Thi nking Is the amount that the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season less than or greater than ½? How would ½ be written as a percentage? 4 Web Search/Thi nking How can we reduce fractions with zeroes in the numerator and the denominator? How could this rule help us reduce the fraction that represents how much of the Pantanal is submerged? 5 Web Search/Thi nking What is one rule for reducing fractions? If we have one fraction that represents how much the Pantanal is submerged, how could we easily find another? What are three fractions that represent how much of the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season?

5. 5 Minutes What are three fractions that represent how much of the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season?

6. 1 Web Search/Thi nking What percentage of the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season? What is the difference between a percentage and a fraction? 2 Web Search/Thi nking What is the difference between a percentage and a decimal? How could you rewrite the percentage that the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season as a decimal? 3 Web Search/Thi nking Is the amount that the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season less than or greater than ½? How would ½ be written as a percentage? 4 Web Search/Thi nking How can we reduce fractions with zeroes in the numerator and the denominator? How could this rule help us reduce the fraction that represents how much of the Pantanal is submerged? 5 Web Search/Thi nking What is one rule for reducing fractions? If we have one fraction that represents how much the Pantanal is submerged, how could we easily find another? What are three fractions that represent how much of the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season?

7. 1 Web Search/Thi nking What percentage of the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season? What is the difference between a percentage and a fraction? What are three fractions that represent how much of the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season?

8. 2 Web Search/Thi nking What is the difference between a percentage and a decimal? How could you rewrite the percentage that the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season as a decimal? What are three fractions that represent how much of the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season?

9. 3 Web Search/Thi nking Is the amount that the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season less than or greater than ½? How would ½ be written as a percentage? What are three fractions that represent how much of the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season?

10. 4 Web Search/Thi nking How can we reduce fractions with zeroes in the numerator and the denominator? How could this rule help us reduce the fraction that represents how much of the Pantanal is submerged? What are three fractions that represent how much of the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season?

11. 5 Web Search/Thi nking What is one rule for reducing fractions? If we have one fraction that represents how much the Pantanal is submerged, how could we easily find another? What are three fractions that represent how much of the Pantanal is submerged during the rainy season?