Question

may painted 4 out of 8 equal parts of a poster board blue . Jared painted 2 out of 4 equal parts of a same size poster board red. write fractions to show which part of the poster board each person painted. Are the fractions equal, draw a model to explain.

Answer 1

For this case we have to write two fractions and simplify each of them.

We have then:

For May:

$\frac{4}{8}$

Simplifying we have:

$\frac{\frac{4}{4}}{\frac{8}{4}} = \frac{1}{2}$

For Jared:

$\frac{2}{4}$

Simplifying we have:

$\frac{\frac{2}{2}}{\frac{4}{2}} = \frac{1}{2}$

We observe that both fractions have the same result.

Answer:

The fractions are the same.

See attached image to visualize the amount that each person painted.

Yellow for May

White for Jared

Answer 2

Given:
May painted 4 out of 8 equal parts of a poster board is blue.
Jared painted 2 out of 4 equal parts of the same sized poster board red.

May: 4/8 = 1/2 of the poster board.
Jared: 2/4 = 1/2 of the poster board.

The fractions are equal. Since the poster board is of the same size, both May and Jared painted equal parts which is 1/2 of the poster board.

The 8 and 4 only indicate the number of equal parts that are drawn on the poster board.