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 You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site.
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. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools.
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.B.3.a Understand addition and subtraction of fractions as joining and separating parts referring to the same whole.
CCSS.Math.Content.4.NF.B.3.b Decompose a fraction into a sum of fractions with the same denominator in more than one way, recording each decomposition by an equation. Justify decompositions, e.g., by using a visual fraction model. Examples: 3/8 = 1/8 + 1/8 + 1/8 ; 3/8 = 1/8 + 2/8 ; 2 1/8 = /8 = 8/8 + 8/8 + 1/8.
CCSS.Math.Content.4.NF.B.3.c Add and subtract mixed numbers with like denominators, e.g., by replacing each mixed number with an equivalent fraction, and/or by using properties of operations and the relationship between addition and subtraction.
CCSS.Math.Content.4.NF.B.3.d Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions referring to the same whole and having like denominators, e.g., by using visual fraction models and equations to represent the problem.

2. Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai
Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai. How could you represent how much of these three islands have been completed in a fraction?
© AirPano
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai
Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai. How could you represent how much of these three islands have been completed in a fraction?
Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai. Construction on the artificial archipelago began in summer Living spaces on the island – including condos and hotels – opened in 2006.
An engineering feat by any measure, the execution of Palm Jumeirah was not without troubles. The breakwall built in the sea to reduce erosion was so effective, it stopped natural tide flows on the island’s shores. Gaps in the breakwall were added to allow water to move more freely.
Another of the three planned Palm Islands, Palm Jebel Ali, is expected to be 50 percent larger than Palm Jumeirah. It’s currently about 80 percent complete. The third, Palm Deira has been renamed Deira Island and is intended as a site for retail and entertainment. Construction of both Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira has been on hold since 2008.
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai
Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai. How could you represent how much of these three islands have been completed in a fraction? 1
Web Search/Thinking
If one of the three planned man-made islands was done (Palm Jumeirah, for example), what fraction of the total project would be completed? 2
If all three of the islands had been completed, how could you represent this as a fraction? What is another way of writing this? 3
We know that Palm Jebel Ali is not completely finished. How would we go about adding the fraction of it that’s been completed to another fraction? 4
What is a percentage? How could 80% be represented as a fraction? 5
Thinking
Are the islands equal sizes? How would this affect the fraction that you create?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai
Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai. How could you represent how much of these three islands have been completed in a fraction? 5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai
Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai. How could you represent how much of these three islands have been completed in a fraction? 1
Web Search/Thinking
If one of the three planned man-made islands was done (Palm Jumeirah, for example), what fraction of the total project would be completed? 2
If all three of the islands had been completed, how could you represent this as a fraction? What is another way of writing this? 3
We know that Palm Jebel Ali is not completely finished. How would we go about adding the fraction of it that’s been completed to another fraction? 4
What is a percentage? How could 80% be represented as a fraction? 5
Thinking
Are the islands equal sizes? How would this affect the fraction that you create?
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

7. Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai
Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai. How could you represent how much of these three islands have been completed in a fraction? 1
Web Search/Thinking
If one of the three planned man-made islands was done (Palm Jumeirah, for example), what fraction of the total project would be completed?
(Possible queries: “what is a numerator?”, “what is a denominator?”, “for kids, how to create fractions”, “for kids, help with understanding fractions”).
Students should search for online fraction resources to help them determine what number should be the numerator and what number should be the denominator. They should understand that, in this case, we’re talking about 3 islands as the total. Therefore, the denominator of the fraction would be 3. If we knew that 1 of the 3 islands was completed, the part (1) of the larger total (3), could be represented as 1/3. If one island was done, 1/3 of the total project would be completed.

8. Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai
Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai. How could you represent how much of these three islands have been completed in a fraction? 2
Web Search/Thinking
If all three of the islands had been completed, how could you represent this as a fraction? What is another way of writing this?
(Possible queries: “for kids, understanding fractions”, “how to represent 100% as a fraction”, “fraction with same numerator and denominator”, “what happens if a fraction has the same numerator and same denominator?”).
From
When you have the same number in your numerator as you do in your denominator, the fraction is equal to one. This means 6/6 = 1. Students should recognize that the 3 islands represent the whole, therefore 3 should be the denominator. They should then think about how, knowing all 3 islands were completed (the parts of the whole), 3 would be the numerator as well. Therefore, if all of the islands had been completed, the fraction that represents how much of the project is done would be 3/3. Students should then search online to determine that a fraction with the same numerator and denominator is equal to 1. (In other words, all parts of the whole are full). If all three islands were completed, this could be represented as 3/3 or 1.

9. Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai
Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai. How could you represent how much of these three islands have been completed in a fraction? 3
Web Search/Thinking
We know that Palm Jebel Ali is not completely finished. How would we go about adding the fraction of it that’s been completed to another fraction?
(Possible queries: “how to add fractions”, “for kids, understanding addition of fractions”).
From
There are 3 Simple Steps to add fractions:
Step 1: Make sure the bottom numbers (the denominators) are the same Step 2: Add the top numbers (the numerators), put the answer over the denominator Step 3: Simplify the fraction (if needed)
Students can use online resources to help them think about how they’d go about adding these fractions. They should determine that they would need to make sure the fractions have the same denominator before adding them. For example, if they were adding 1 completed island with an island that’s halfway done, they should represent the completed island as 2/2, so that they can easily add ½ to that.

10. Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai
Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai. How could you represent how much of these three islands have been completed in a fraction? 4
Web Search/Thinking
What is a percentage? How could 80% be represented as a fraction?
(Possible queries: “what is a percentage?”, “converting a percentage to a fraction”).
From
To convert a Percent to a Fraction follow these steps:
Step 1: Write down the percent divided by 100.
Step 2: If the percent is not a whole number, then multiply both top and bottom by 10 for every number after the decimal point. (For example, if there is one number after the decimal, then use 10, if there are two then use 100, etc.)
Step 3: Simplify (or reduce) the fraction
Students should understand that a percentage means “out of 100”, therefore, 80% could be represented as 80/100. This can then be further reduced to 8/10, or even further to 4/5. (Students may want to search for help in reducing this fraction: Possible queries: “for kids, how to reduce fractions”, “for kids, online fraction reduction”).

11. Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai
Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai. How could you represent how much of these three islands have been completed in a fraction? 5
Thinking
Are the islands equal sizes? How would this affect the fraction that you create?
Students should think about how if each island was a different size, it would represent a different part of the whole. One island might make up 1/8 of the total amount of island that’s going to be completed, whereas another island might represent ½ of the total, for example. Students should understand that for the overall question, we’re assuming that the islands are all the same size (in this case, each island represents 1/3), but this may not be accurate. We know from the description, for example, that Palm Jebel Ali is expected to be 50% bigger than Palm Jumeirah, so in reality the islands are all of varying size.

12. Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai
Palm Jumeirah is one of three planned man-made islands in Dubai. How could you represent how much of these three islands have been completed in a fraction?
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question. For the sake of the question, students should assume that all islands are the same size and each island represents 1/3 of the total planned project. (Students who answered question #5 should know that this is not the case in reality). Assuming each island represents 1/3, students then need to add up the fractions of the island project that have been completed. We know that Palm Jumeirah is completed, meaning it represents 1 of the 3. Another island has yet to be started (representing 0 of the 3), and we know that Palm Jebel Ali is 80% completed, which can be represented as 4/5.
In other words, we know that none of one island has been completed (0), an entire other island has been completed (1), and Palm Jebel Ali is 4/5 completed. If each island represents 1/3, students should recognize there is 1 completed and we then need to add 4/5 onto that as well. Depending on age and ability, students can say that 1 and 4/5 out of 3 islands have been completed, but others can solve for the common denominator and determine that another way of saying this is 9/15 of the entire island project has been finished (4/5 + 5/5 + 0/5 = 9/15).