FractionThe fraction wall
Nine rows of the same whole, cut into more pieces as you go down. Equivalent fractions are the vertical seams: 1/2, 2/4, 3/6, 4/8, 5/10 and 6/12 all end on the centre line. Print it and check with a straightedge.
The site chrome drops away — just the numbers.
Ten seconds with a straightedge
- Equivalence. Drop a line at the middle: 0.5 of the way along, it crosses 1/2, 2/4, 3/6, 4/8, 5/10 and 6/12 — six names, one number.
- Comparison. 2/3 of the wall reaches further than 5/8 of it, so 2/3 is the larger fraction — visible before it is calculable.
- Why thirds are awkward. The thirds row shares its seams only with the sixths and twelfths — which is why 1/3 keeps its own denominator family, and why it repeats as a decimal.
Common questions
- How do I read a fraction wall?
- Every row is the same whole, cut into more pieces as you go down. Pieces that end at the same vertical line are equal: two 1/4 bricks end where one 1/2 brick does, so 2/4 = 1/2. Lay a straightedge down the wall and the equivalences line up under it.
- Which fractions can I compare with it?
- Any two on the wall: find each fraction as a run of bricks from the left edge, and the run that reaches further is the larger fraction. 2/3 reaches past 5/8, so 2/3 is larger — no arithmetic needed.
- Why are there no sevenths, ninths or elevenths?
- The classic wall keeps the rows whose bricks line up with each other — 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 12 share those vertical seams. A row of sevenths lines up with nothing above it, which teaches its own lesson, but makes a messier poster.