Problem Solving with Fractions

In Australia, students celebrate Christmas a little differently than we do. As we prepare for the cold weather and wish for a white Christmas, Australian students are “wrapping up” the school year along with their gifts. You see, in Australia, this time of year brings the Summer Holiday Season and temperatures of 25-38°C! (30 is hot, 20 is nice, 10 is cold, 0 is ice! So it is really hot!) Suppose an Australia sixth grader wanted to wrap some presents for his sweet, sweet grandmother. If he had 6 yards of ribbon and he needed 1½ yards of ribbon for each bow, how many ribbons could he make?

Papai Noel (Father Noel) is the gift- bringer in Brazil. According to legend, he lives in Greenland. When he arrives in Brazil, he usually wears silk clothing due to the summer heat. If his dressmaker has 7 2/4 yards of material and it takes 1½ yards to make one a silk Papai Noel suit, how many silk suits can we make ?

Christmas in China celebrate by lighting their houses with beautiful paper lanterns and decorating their Christmas trees, which they call "Trees of Light," with paper chains, paper flowers, and paper lanterns. Chinese Children hang muslin stockings and await a visit from Santa Claus, whom they call Dun Che Lao Ren (dwyn-chuh-lau- oh-run) which means "Christmas Old Man.“ Dun Che Lao Ren must travel about 3000 miles to cover all of China. If he stops every 1½ miles, how many stops will this “Christmas Old Man” make?

So far, we have divided each time to solve these word problems. What words can help us to know when to divide? Now we are going to have some different types of problems. You will need to read carefully to decide which operation you should use!

Hanukkah, also known as Chanukah, is an annual Jewish holiday, which lasts eight days and eight nights. Many families light a menorah, or eight-branched candelabra (with a special ninth “helper” branch) during each of the eight days of Hanukkah. If it takes 2¾ inches of wax to make each candle, and there are nine total candles, how much wax was used to make the menorah?

In Sweden, after Christmas Eve dinner, a family member or a friend dresses up as "tomte" or Christmas gnome sticking a white beard, wearing red robes and giving away from his sack wonderful gifts, many of which have a funny rhyme attached on them that hints at their contents. Here is a rhyme for you. If ‘tomte” has 17 presents that are each 3½ inches tall, would you be able to see over them if he stacked them up?

Don’t forget to look for the word ‘OF”. If you are ‘ Taking ⅔ of 4⅛ what will you do??

What did you notice about the problems that required you to multiply? Now you are ready to do some on your own! Think about what each question is asking you!