As part of the Rational Numbers Project (RNP) curriculum, students explore fractions with varied hands-on materials: colored paper pie shapes, paper strips (1"x 8"), and colored tiles or chips. Below are some virtual versions of the paper and plastic materials you would find on a RNP student"s desktop. Just like the hands-on materials, these virtual materials offer unlimited exploratory opportunities. Here are some simple ideas to get you started! If you don't already have it on your computer, the first thing you have to do is get the Flash Player.

Download All Flash Materials (.zip file format)

Chips - Open Chips (requires Flash Player)
Instructions: Use the chip counter (upper left) to add to the white box or drag them in one by one. Click once to make a chip to black. Click again to turn it back to white. You can see the fraction you"ve made by clicking the "Show Fraction" box in the top right corner. Try some experiments like these:

1. Take out 12 chips. Split them into four groups and make sure you put the same number of chips in each group. Pick one group and those chips black. What fraction of the chips are black? What if you click the chips in two groups; what fraction of the chips are black now?
2. Take nine chips and arrange them into three equal groups. Now click two groups black. What fraction is this?
3. If you have four chips and click two of them black, what fraction have you made? How do you show that same fraction with eight chips?

Paper Folding - Open Paper Folding (requires Flash Player)
Instructions: With this game you can drag one or all of the "paper strips" into the white box. Click on a section to turn it orange. Click again to make it white. You can see the fraction you've made in each strip by clicking the "Show Fraction" box in the top right corner. To remove a paper strip, drag it back into the blue box. Here are some ideas for paper folding:

1. Line up some strips one on top of the other. On each strip, click the boxes so that one end is orange. Try to make each strip equally white and orange (like sharing a candy bar). Does it work for all the strips? Why or why not?
2. Drag the very top and very bottom strip into the white box. Line them up one on top of the other. Once again, click the sections till both strips are equally orange and white. Now click the show fraction box. Why do they have different fraction names if they look the same?

Pie Pieces - Open Pie Pieces (requires Flash Player)
Instructions: Drag one of the pie pies into the white box. Then pick another color (of a smaller size) and drag one or more pieces on top. You can see the fraction you've made by clicking the "Show Fraction" box in the top right corner. Click the box again to hide the fraction. Use the "Reset" button to clear the white box. Use different color combinations to answer question like these:

1. How many yellows cover one black? How many pinks cover one brown?
2. Which is bigger, 1 brown or 1 grey?
3. Imagine the yellow piece is a slice of watermelon that you need to cut into three equal pieces to share with some friends. What color would you pick to show this?