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.A.1 Explain why a fraction a/b is equivalent to a fraction (n × a)/(n × b) by using visual fraction models, with attention to how the number and size of the parts differ even though the two fractions themselves are the same size. Use this principle to recognize and generate equivalent fractions.
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.
CCSS.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.

2. What fraction of Princes Pier is walkable today?
© Getty Images
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. What fraction of Princes Pier is walkable today?
The walkable portion of Melbourne, Australia’s rebuilt Princes Pier ends just beyond 640 feet, leaving an additional 1200-plus feet of the exposed pilings from the old pier. The wooden skeleton that remains is a visual reminder of the city’s industrial past.
From 1915 to the end of the ‘60s, the pier was a major entry point for immigrants arriving in Australia’s second-largest city. A rail line conveyed travelers from the pier – originally called New Railway Pier – into the city.
Princes Pier’s size was inadequate to accommodate modern container ships, so it was closed down, and was eventually destroyed by fire during the 1990s. The rebuilt pier reopened for foot-traffic in 2011, giving visitors a clear view out into Port Philips Bay.
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. What fraction of Princes Pier is walkable today?1
Thinking
What is the length of the exposed pilings of the pier? What is the length of the walkable section? What is the total length altogether? 2
Web Search
Find an interactive visual fraction model online. Try plugging in common fractions to see how they are represented here. 3
What is a numerator? What is a denominator? How do you decide what should be the numerator and what should be the denominator? 4
What is the difference between a fraction and a percentage? Which do you think would be the better way to describe what part of the whole pier is walkable? 5
Find a resource online that helps you with fraction reduction. If reducing fractions by hand, what mathematical formula would you use? How would you go about this?
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. What fraction of Princes Pier is walkable today?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. What fraction of Princes Pier is walkable today?1
Thinking
What is the length of the exposed pilings of the pier? What is the length of the walkable section? What is the total length altogether? 2
Web Search
Find an interactive visual fraction model online. Try plugging in common fractions to see how they are represented here. 3
What is a numerator? What is a denominator? How do you decide what should be the numerator and what should be the denominator? 4
What is the difference between a fraction and a percentage? Which do you think would be the better way to describe what part of the whole pier is walkable? 5
Find a resource online that helps you with fraction reduction. If reducing fractions by hand, what mathematical formula would you use? How would you go about this?
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. What fraction of Princes Pier is walkable today?1
Thinking
What is the length of the exposed pilings of the pier? What is the length of the walkable section? What is the total length altogether?
Students should reread the image description to find this information and then create and solve a mathematical formula to find the total length. For example:
Walkable portion: 640 feet
Additional length: 1200 feet
Solve for total length:
640 feet feet = 1,840 feet

8. What fraction of Princes Pier is walkable today?2
Web Search
Find an interactive visual fraction model online. Try plugging in common fractions to see how they are represented here.
(Possible queries: “interactive fraction model online”, “visualizing fractions, interactive model”)
Students should practice using online models to visualize fractions, such as the ones found here: here: and here:
Students should type in common fractions like ¾ and ½ into these models to explore the different ways of representing these amounts.

9. What fraction of Princes Pier is walkable today?3
Web Search
What is a numerator? What is a denominator? How do you decide what should be the numerator and what should be the denominator?
(Possible queries: “what is a numerator?”, “what is a denominator”)
From
A numerator is the top part of a fraction, a mathematical expression which expresses part of a whole. For example, 7/19 is a fraction, with the numerator of that particular fraction being “7.” Likewise, 8/3 is also a fraction. The bottom part of a fraction is known as the denominator, with some people using the term “nominator” to talk about numerators. The numerator describes the number of parts of the whole involved in the fraction.

10. What fraction of Princes Pier is walkable today?4
Web Search
What is the difference between a fraction and a percentage? Which do you think would be the better way to describe what part of the whole pier is walkable?
(Possible queries: “difference between fraction and percentage”, “when to use percentage, when to use fraction”, “using a fraction v. using a percentage”, “what is a fraction?”, “what is a percentage?”)
From
Fractions: A fraction is part of a whole. Fractions are mostly language-based rather than Math-based. For example, people usually refer to quarter of a tank of fuel or half of cup of tea, each describing fractions of a whole. Whereas, fractions used in Math make use of numbers to represent approximate proportions.
Percentages: Percentage is a means to describe fractions of a whole. However, you may consider it as a rate rather than a number. For example, 20% will be always twenty parts in every hundred. Another common example is a 10% figure, ten cents in every dollars, and 10 dollars in every 100 dollars and so on.
Students should understand that fractions tend to be more language-based than percentages, and also lend themselves more easily to visualization. It would be more appropriate to describe something that could be represented visually on a map, like the walkable section of the pier, as a fraction rather than a percentage.

11. What fraction of Princes Pier is walkable today?5
Web Search
Find a resource online that helps you with fraction reduction. If reducing fractions by hand, what mathematical formula would you use? How would you go about this?
(Possible queries: “fraction reduction help online”, “reducing fractions online”, “how to reduce fractions”)
Students can search online to find resources that will help them reduce fractions, such as the ones found here: or here
They should also understand that whether they are plugging the numbers into a website, or reducing fractions by hand, it is a process of division using the greatest common factor. They can search for resources online to explore this in further detail, such as the explanation found here
1. Find the greatest common factor (GCF) by listing the factors of the numerator (top number), then listing the factors of the denominator (bottom number). The factors of the number are the numbers that, when multiplied by a second number, equal the original number. The greatest factor that is common in both the numerator and the denominator is the GCF. This is an example of how this would look:8/12 is the fraction8 is the numerator. The factors of 8 are 1, 2, 4 and 8.12 is the denominator. The factors are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12.The GCF is 4 since it is the greatest factor that is common in both the numerator and the denominator.
2. Divide the numerator by the GCF. Using the same fraction in Step 1, we learned that the GCF was 4. When we divide 4 by the numerator, we get 2. The number 2 is our new numerator.
3. Divide the denominator by the GCF. Continuing with the same example in Step 1, we learned that the GCF was 4. When we divide 4 by the denominator, we get 3. This is our new denominator. From Step 2, we saw that the new numerator in our example was 2 and the new denominator from this step is 3. Thus, 2/3 would be the answer. The fraction is now reduced to its lowest terms.

12. What fraction of Princes Pier is walkable today?
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question. Students should use the information in the image’s description to decide what should be the numerator and what should be the denominator. They should then use the resources they found to reduce this fraction, either doing so by hand or using an online calculator. For example:
Walkable portion: 640 feet
Additional length: 1200 feet
Solve for total length:
640 feet feet = 1,840 feet
So the fraction that is walkable is 640 feet/1840. The greatest common factor is 80, and the fraction can be reduced to 8/23.