Year 6 · Fractions · Summary

Year 6 Fractions: summary and key words

Part of the Year 6 fractions chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page

Chapter summary

Skill	Method
Simplifying	Find the HCF of the top and bottom. Divide both by it. Check that only 1 is shared.
Same bottom number	Find the lowest common denominator (the LCM of the bottoms). Multiply the top and bottom of each fraction by the same number.
Comparing and ordering	Write them with the same bottom number, then compare the top numbers. Change mixed numbers to improper fractions first.
Adding and subtracting	Use the LCM of the bottoms, add or subtract the top numbers, then simplify. Write improper answers as mixed numbers.
Multiplying	Multiply the tops, multiply the bottoms, then simplify. The answer is smaller than both fractions.
Dividing by a whole number	Multiply the bottom number by the whole number, then simplify.
Decimals	A fraction is a division: use long division. A decimal stops only when the simplest bottom number has factors 2 and 5 only.

I can simplify a fraction by dividing the top and bottom by their highest common factor.
I can find the lowest common denominator and write fractions with the same denominator.
I can compare and order fractions, including fractions and mixed numbers greater than 1.
I can add and subtract fractions with different denominators, and mixed numbers.
I can multiply two proper fractions and write the answer in its simplest form.
I can divide a proper fraction by a whole number.
I can change a fraction to a decimal with long division, and a decimal to a fraction.
I can say whether a statement is always, sometimes or never true, and explain why.

Simplest form: A fraction is in its simplest form when the top and bottom have no common factor except 1.
Highest common factor (HCF): The biggest number that divides exactly into two or more numbers.
Lowest common multiple (LCM): The smallest number that is in the times tables of two or more numbers.
Common denominator: A bottom number that two or more fractions share.
Equivalent fraction: A fraction that has the same value as another, such as 1/2 = 2/4.
Improper fraction: A fraction whose top number is bigger than its bottom number, such as 7/4.
Mixed number: A whole number and a proper fraction together, such as 1 3/4.
Unit fraction: A fraction with a top number of 1, such as 1/5.
Terminating decimal: A decimal that stops, such as 0.375. Its fraction has a bottom number with only the factors 2 and 5 in its simplest form.
Long division: A method for dividing one number by another, one digit at a time.