Working with Fractions

About this chapter

Working with Fractions is the eighth chapter of Class 7 Ganita Prakash Part 1. It builds on the Class 6 idea of a fraction and develops two large operations — multiplication and division of fractions — through everyday distance-time stories (Aaron walking, his pet tortoise crawling) and area-of-rectangle pictures on a unit square. The chapter moves through six ideas: multiplying a whole number by a fraction (5 grandchildren × 2/3 acre); multiplying a fraction by a whole number using the divide-then-multiply rule; multiplying two fractions using a unit-square area model; reading multiplication as 'of' (3/4 of an hour); Brahmagupta's general formula a/b × c/d = (a×c)/(b×d) stated in the Brahma-sphuta-siddhanta of 628 CE; and simplifying a product to lowest terms by cancelling common factors before multiplying. CTET Paper 2 Mathematics tests this chapter through multiplication word problems, mixed-fraction cost problems, lowest-form simplification and pedagogy items on the 'of means multiply' link and the unit-square model. The four tests — Practice 15, Quiz 15, Hard 15, Mastery 30 — cover all six ideas at CTET depth and difficulty.