Myths About Multiplication- STUDENT COPY

For each of these statements, indicate whether you think it is true or false. Do not worry about
answers that you do not know--give it your best guess!

1. You must multiply the numbers in the order that they are listed. _____________

2. The commutative and associative properties can be used to change the order of the

numbers that you are multiplying. _____________

3. To multiply fractions we cross multiply. _____________

4. To multiply fractions we use common denominators. _____________

5. To multiply fractions we multiply across the numerators and across the denominators.

_____________

6. Multiplication always makes things bigger. _____________

7. Multiplication by a fraction always makes things smaller. _____________

8. The numerators and denominators of fractions can be treated as separate whole numbers.

For example, writing 4/7 is the same as writing 4 and 7. _____________

9. We can use fractions to measure area. _____________

10. The units are NOT important when we write our answers. _____________
 Myths About Multiplication- SOLUTIONS
For each of these statements, indicate whether you think it is true or false. Do not worry about
answers that you do not know--give it your best guess!

11. You must multiply the numbers in the order that they are listed. __true___________

12. The commutative and associative properties can be used to change the order of the

numbers that you are multiplying. __ture___________

13. To multiply fractions we cross multiply. __false___________

14. To multiply fractions we use common denominators. ___false__________

15. To multiply fractions we multiply across the numerators and across the denominators.

__true___________

16. Multiplication always makes things bigger. __false___________

17. Multiplication by a fraction always makes things smaller. ___false__________

18. The numerators and denominators of fractions can be treated as separate whole numbers.

For example, writing 4/7 is the same as writing 4 and 7.___false__________

19. We can use fractions to measure area. ___true__________

20. The units are NOT important when we write our answers. __false___________
 Area Models for Multiplication of Fractions- STUDENT COPY
Solve the following problems about multiplying fractions. Pay very close attention to the
directions and make sure that your answers are complete.

WARM UP
1. FRACTION FLASHBACK: Shade in ¾ of this bar.

2. AREA REVIEW: What is the area of a 3 in x 4 in square?

ACTIVITIES
1. Answer the following questions about the problem: a rectangle is 1 in by ⅖ in.

a. What equation would you use to model the area of this problem?

b. How would you model this equation using the square below? Make sure to label

your model!

c. What are the units of the answer to this problem?

2. Answer the following questions about the problem: a rectangle is ½ in by ⅖ in.

a. What equation would you use to model the area of this problem?

b. How would you model this equation using the square below? Make sure to label

your model!
 c. What are the units of the answer to this problem?

3. Answer the following questions about the problem: a rectangle is ⅝ in by ¾ in.

a. What equation would you use to model the area of this problem?

b. How would you model this equation using the square below? Make sure to label

your model!

c. What are the units of the answer to this problem?

CHALLENGE
Do NOT stress about this problem! We are going to work with mixed numbers tomorrow!

1. Answer the following questions about the problem: a rectangle is 1 ½ in by 2 ⅕ in.

a. What equation would you use to model the area of this problem?

b. How would you model this equation using the square below?
c. What are the units of the answer to this problem?

d. Do you think the answer will be less than 1 or greater than 1?

Multiplying fractions requires a lot of previous knowledge and skill building in order to

properly understand both the concept and execute the procedure. In order to know how to

multiply a fraction, students must first know how to multiply whole numbers, as well as what a

fraction is. We are assuming that students know the definitions of each of these, as well as how

to use them. Branching off of fractions, we assume that students also know how to make

equivalent fractions, how to convert mixed numbers into improper fractions, and how to find

common denominators and decide when to use them (or when not to). These various skills are all

necessary to work with fractions in the context of multiplication. Additionally, for the purposes

of our activity, we are assuming that students are familiar with the concept area and how to

model and compute it.

The two activities that we have chosen to use in our lesson about the multiplication of

fractions are a pre teaching thought exercise and a worksheet about using fraction multiplication

in the context of area. The pre teaching activity is a brief questionnaire in which students are

asked to answer true or false to a list of questions about fractions and multiplication. This

activity comes first in our order because it is a warm up for students to think about what they

already know about fractions and multiplication. It also helps students to begin thinking about

some common misconceptions that they may come across when working with fraction

multiplication. This activity will help students begin to understand the conceptual ideas of

fraction multiplication. They were reminded of ideas about various functions of multiplication

and asked to think about them in a new, more challenging concept. It does not ask the students to

be procedural, but rather entirely conceptual. Students will also be given this worksheet back at
the end of the lesson and they may make revisions if they have changed their opinions at all

based on what they have learned and practiced.

The area activity comes second because this is a worksheet that would be handed out and

completed after a lesson on fraction multiplication. This follows logically from the questionnaire

being first, because students warm up by refreshing on what they already know and then get a

chance to apply that knowledge on this worksheet and confront the misconceptions from the

questionnaire as they do the worksheet. This worksheet is the more procedural part of the lesson.

However, students will be asked to use the conceptual thinking that they began with the

questionnaire on this worksheet. Conceptual ideas come in a little bit when the students are asked

to reason about what the units of the problem are. Students will focus primarily on practicing the

procedural act of multiplying fractions. They must build on the procedural knowledge that they

already possess. The goal of the worksheet is to try every problem and practice thinking about

how to solve them, not necessarily to get them 100% correct.

As previously mentioned, the worksheet would come after a lesson on fraction

multiplication. The focus of this lesson would be on area models for fraction multiplication. The

teacher would start by introducing the idea of fraction multiplication, as well as providing the

definitions of fractions and multiplication as a reminder. Then, the teacher would move into

demonstrating using a 1 in by 1 in square to do fraction multiplication (with fractions less than

1). This demonstration would be followed by an opportunity to complete a similar problem as a

class. This would allow the students who are beginning to grasp the concept a chance to try it

and the students who are still struggling to watch one more example before trying it on their

own. After this small lesson and scaffolding, students would try the worksheet independently,

with the chance to ask for help or clarification if needed.

activities. Students must draw from each of them to fully understand the problem procedurally

and conceptually. There are, however, some common core standards that apply more directly to

our activities. Using appropriate tools strategically, constructing viable arguments/critiquing the

reasoning of others, and attending to precision are the more applicable common core standards

used in our multiplication of fractions activities.

Using appropriate tools strategically can be seen within the area problems. The students

must use the provided resources, in this case the provided 1 in x1 in square, to further illustrate

the equation they came up with. This allows students to visualize the problem, so it becomes

more than just an equation, but a pictorial representation as well. It is important that students can

see the problem for more than just the equation, because conceptually understanding how an area

is represented can help with the solving of future problems. It may be easy for some students to

derive an equation from the already given information, but getting them to see that there is a

deeper understanding of the problem can help them in the long run.

Constructing viable arguments and critiquing others' reasoning is modeled throughout our

activities. In the first part, students must identify whether scenarios are true or false when it

comes to fraction multiplication. This means that they must reason and argue with the suggested

true or false questions to determine their answers. These questions enable students to think

conceptually about multiplying fractions. Also, when asked in the second part of our activity to

come up with an equation, students are constructing an argument based off of the given

information. Then, they must strengthen this with a visual aid, in this case an area model.

Constructing equations is like constructing arguments in the sense that students must be willing

to prove and show how they came to their conclusion. This, again, is illustrated in the area
models that students must fill out after coming up with their equations. It is important that

students critique and receive criticism because it helps them problem solve and think more

critically.

Attending to precision can also be seen in our activities. Students are asked to fill out a

true or false questionnaire on the myths about multiplication. This provides them with the proper

tools they need to help solve the problem in the second part of the activity with multiplication of

fractions. If students understand these myths and misconceptions, then they can look out for

them when multiplying. This will help the students' answers become more precise as they can

eliminate potential mistakes because of misconceptions they were able to identify. Understanding

more about multiplication itself can help students, in the future, attend to better precision.

Moreover, students are asked frequently about the units when solving their problems. This will

help them double check their work, and also what they are solving for as units can play a key

role in helping solve the problem. This also prevents them from forgetting their units in the

solution of the problem which is a common mistake.

The common core standards aim to help students better understand mathematics

conceptually and procedurally. These three common core standards are just a few examples of

the ways that students can use them in their daily problem solving. Each standard helps students

in a variety of ways, but also helps teachers as they are constructing lessons and activities to

better enrich their students.