Turkeys, Fractions, OH MY!

Well, it is hard to believe it is almost Thanksgiving! We have been hard at work and are getting ready to head into Parent Teacher Conferences and Thanksgiving Break. I am really looking forward to meeting or seeing all of your parents again this year.

We have been working hard in math and are in the midst of our number sense unit. We just made ice cream cones to represent the steps in simplifying fractions. Here are a few:

How many of you like fractions? When I was in middle school, fractions made me a little nervous, but the more I worked with them, the easier they became. I think I like fractions now because I can see how much I use them in real life. I love to bake and I am constantly changing recipes for different quantities, so converting fractions is a must! Fractions also come in handy when I am working in the house. When I decorate a room or hang up a picture, I need to make sure I am measuring correctly and very precisely to ensure it is straight!

I often have students ask me when we use GCF or LCM in real life. I will post two real life questions below. Can you tell which one you would find the GCF to solve? What about the LCM? Does anyone have the answers? I'll give you 5 bonus points for each one you solve correctly! Don't post the answer-bring it into class and turn it in to me!

Okay, now for the questions:

1. Jill wants to put 45 sunflower plants, 81 corn plants, and 63 tomato plants in her garden. If
she puts the same number of plants in each row and if each row has only one type of plant, what is the greatest number of plants Jill can put in one row? Explain.

2. Every 7 years the Lancaster family has a family reunion. Every 6 years they update their family tree. If they both had a photo taken and updated their family tree in 1997, in what year will both events occur again?

Good luck! See you in class!