Unit 10 Contents

What Do I Do

Mr. Moreno asked his class to solve this problem: 2 − 1.

Elizabeth looked at her fraction circle pieces and said, “I can take 1 away from 2, but I cannot take away from .”

Richard suggested, “10 is the common denominator, so what if we make them all tenths? 2 is equivalent to 2 , and each whole number is the same as .”

2 = 2 =

“ + + is . minus leaves ,” Elizabeth reasoned.

Tanya listened to their solution strategy and then suggested her own. “What if you make both mixed numbers improper fractions?”

2 − 1 = −

mixed numbers improper fractions

“The common denominator is 10, so I need to rename .”

“Now I can subtract tenths from tenths: − = .”