Division Activity
Materials
- Star sheets, page 153 (1 per student)
- 12" x 18" construction paper (1 per student)
- Division sentences, page 154 (1 per student)
- Scissors (1 per student)
- Glue sticks (1 per student)
- The completed project prepared by the teacher before the lesson
Introduction
This project teaches students the three parts of a division problem: the dividend, the divisor, and the quotient. More specifically, it teaches them that the divisor (the second number in a division number sentence) can be understood in two different ways: either as the number of groups or as the number in each group.
For instance, take the division sentence 40 ÷ 4 = 10. Here, the number 4 can represent either the number of groups that 40 is broken into (which would make 4 groups with 10 in each group), or the number 4 can represent the number in each group (which would make 10 groups with 4 in each group).
This distinction can be important in real life situations. Take these two problems for instance:
- Jake has 40 M&M’s. He wants to give an equal amount of M&M’s to 4 of his friends. How many M&M’s will each of his 4 friends get?
- Jake has 40 M&M’s. He wants to give 4 M&Ms to as many of his friends as he can. How many of his friends will get 4 M&M’s?
Both of these problems lead to the number sentence 40 ÷ 4 = 10. However, the real life contexts are totally different. In the first problem, 4 people get 10 M&Ms each. In the second problem, 10 people get 4 M&Ms each.
