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Grade 3 · Fractions

Festival lanterns: subdivide quarters without changing them

At a neighborhood festival, 2/4 of a strip is selected and every quarter is divided into 2 smaller equal pieces. Change the controls and explain what the animation reveals.

Predict what will happen, press Play, then pause and explain what changed. Every control also works without playback.

Watch the relationship

Paused
Festival lanterns: subdivide quarters without changing them. Original fraction: 2/4. After all cuts: 4/8. Same amount: 0.52/4 = 4/8Original quartersAfter subdivisionNew cuts change the names, not the colored length.
Both strips represent the same whole. The original denominator is four. A partial cut is a construction step; the displayed renamed fraction describes the completed subdivision.

Starts paused. Play once, pause anywhere, or use Step to inspect the mathematics. Playback stops when this panel leaves the screen.

Make it your experiment

Change one value. Notice what follows.

The controls adjust the model. Numbers below describe the current frame. Decimals are rounded.

Original fraction
2/4
After all cuts
4/8
Same amount
0.5

HD animation studio

From experiment to screen.

Present a crisp Canvas scene, save a full-HD image, or capture your model as a silent video.

Understand what you are seeing

The idea behind the motion.

At a neighborhood festival, 2/4 of a strip is selected and every quarter is divided into 2 smaller equal pieces. Equivalent fractions rename the same amount. Subdivide selected and unselected parts by the same factor; changing only the numerator would alter the amount instead of its name. There are 4 selected small pieces among 8 in the whole. Both counts grew by the factor 2.

A relationship to keep

2/4 = 4/8

Read the symbols alongside the explanation. A diagram shows the relationship; the assumptions tell you when it applies.

  1. STEP 1

    Read the starting situation

    At a neighborhood festival, 2/4 of a strip is selected and every quarter is divided into 2 smaller equal pieces. Identify what each number measures before changing a control; the worked example refers to these starting values.

  2. STEP 2

    Follow the mathematical change

    Compare the two equal-length strips as the extra cuts appear. Their colored lengths remain aligned throughout the construction. Pause on an intermediate frame and compare the picture with the live readouts.

  3. STEP 3

    Explain and test the relationship

    There are 4 selected small pieces among 8 in the whole. Both counts grew by the factor 2. Change one input, predict its effect, and test whether the same relationship still works.

Your turn to explain

Make a prediction. Test your reasoning.

Festival lanterns: use the original situation. At a neighborhood festival, 2/4 of a strip is selected and every quarter is divided into 2 smaller equal pieces. If every quarter were divided into 3 pieces instead, what equivalent fraction would result?

Use the values specified in the question. Reset restores the initial values for this investigation.

Compare your explanation

6/12. Multiply both 2 and 4 by 3.

Work through a full lesson

Connect the animation to a worked example and practice questions.

Grade 3 · Algebra

Rename halves as fourths

Explain equivalent fractions through finer equal partitions.