Here are some fractions: 3/10, 2/8, 4/12, 12/40, 5/20. Which of these fractions are equivalent to 1/4?

Before we begin lets quickly do some reviewing. What are fractions and how can we write them? Fractions are often used when we don't want to write down numbers that are really long. A fraction, simply put is a division. The number on the top of the fraction is called the numerator, whilst the number on the bottom is called the denominator. These terms might be a bit tricky to remember so I'll quickly show you a method to remember these words. Drawing wierd pictures with them actually help me to remember what term means what, for example, whenever I hear the word numerator I might think of the moon because the first bit of the word 'numerator' sounds a little bit like the word 'moon', which is very high up, like the numerator in a fraction. Similarly, 'denominator' begins with the letter 'd', as does the word 'down' so we can think of denominators as being on the bottom of the fraction. You may remember these words slightly differently, but silly images can actually help these words stick in your head and can be very funny too! You can also simplify fractions. This means that we can write the fraction with smaller numbers on the top and bottom, but the fraction gives exactly the same value. Let's see which of the above fractions can be simplified: 3/10 : Let's quickly count our 3 times tables, since 3 is the numerator, and stop once we get on or above the denominator 10: 3, 6, 9, 12. Unfortunately, we did not hit 10 so this fraction can't be simplified further, so we can now ask whether this equals 1/4. The answer is no since 3 is not equal to 1 and 10 is not equal to 4. So let's move onto the next one. 2/8: As 2 is the numerator, we count our 2 times tables until we reach or go over the denominator 8: 2, 4, 6, 8. This time the fraction can be simplified! We've landed on the denominator 8 and we added 2 each time so we can divide the top and the bottom of the fraction by 2. If we do this we get 1/4, since 2 divided by 2 is 1 and 8 divided by 2 is 4. Now we can see that this answer is equal to 1/4! I should let you know that there are other fractions in the list that equal 1/4! I'll leave the rest of this question up to you but now you should have all the skills neccessary to simplify fractions with ease! Best of luck!