Addition and Subtraction Fraction Word Problems Worksheets
Math word problems are sentence-based exercises that more often, than not, describe real world scenarios and situations that you may run into on your daily routine. Students should have some basic experience with these types of problems. The particular type of problems that we explore on this page focus on those that include a fractional value. To help acclimate students to using factions in this form, we focus solely on the use of addition and/or subtraction operations. Students will first identify the needed math operation(s) and then on the math involved when working with fractions. These worksheets help students identify the operations that should take place between fraction in a word problem.
Aligned Standard: Grade 4 Fractions - 4.NF.3
- Subtraction of Fractions Step-by-Step Lesson- Jack is just giving his popcorn away.
- Guided Lesson - Jello, walking to the market, and spinach soup. All calculations I make everyday, less the spinach.
- Guided Lesson Explanation - This set of instructions is clear and concise with minimal distractions.
- Fraction Word Problems 5-Pack - Five pages of repeated problems to help hammer home the concepts of this area.
- Fraction Word Problems (Word-Based Numbers) 5-Pack - There are no numbers in the questions. The numbers are written as words.
- Practice Worksheet - 2 pages with 10 problems that are full out. There is space to work, too.
- Matching Worksheet - Sorry, but the units kind of give this one away.
- Answer Keys - These are for all the unlocked materials above.
Homework Sheets
I tried to tie the fractions to things that we use fraction unit with every day (distance, recipes, food, etc.)
- Homework 1- During the movie Max drinks 5/7 of a cup of water and Luke drinks 1/7 a cup of water. How much more did Max drink?
- Homework 2- There are 24 hours in a day. Edward has spent 3/8 of the day in school. How much time will Edward spend in school?
- Homework 3- Laura baked 2 cakes in a microwave. Cake one takes 8/12 of an hour to bake. Cake number two takes 5/12 of an hour to bake. How much more time did cake one take?
Practice Worksheets
These problems are a bit more wordy, if you will. The go is to increase their reading stamina within word problems.
- Practice 1- Alexis had 5/8 of a pound of sugar yesterday, but today he had 3/8 of a pound of sugar left. How much sugar did Alexis use?
- Practice 2- Grace is making rice for her family. The boys eat 4/7 of a bag of rice and the girls eat 3/7 of a bag of rice. How much more rice did boys eat than the girls?
- Practice 3- There are 12 months in a year. Luke has to go on vacation for 1/6 of the year. How much time will Luke spend on holiday?
Math Skill Quizzes
These get us heading to be ready for unit rates. We also have a few applied unit rate questions in here too.
- Quiz 1- Alana used 5 kg of sugar in 15 days. How much sugar did she use in 120 days?
- Quiz 2- Dylan bought 6/11 of a kg of apples and 4/11 of a kg of peaches. How much more did the apples weigh than the peaches?
- Quiz 3- Lincoln has 35 candies and Callus has 28 candies. What fraction of the candies does Lincoln have?
How Do You Identify That A Word Problem Calls for Addition or Subtraction?
There are a series of words and phrases that can be found in most word problems that will indicate to you the math operations involved. The common phrases that indicate finding a sum or the addition operations include, but are not limited to: add to, all together, increased by, more than, and go up by. The words that are commonly found in addition-based word problems include: both, combine, perimeter, plus, sum, and total. The phrases that are often used to indicate that you need to subtract are: decreased by, fewer than, how many more, less than, and take away. The words that are common to subtracting are: difference, left, less, minus, and remaining. Not all the problems will contain these terms, but you can be sure many of them will.
How Do You Solve Problems Like This?
Once you can determine the operations that will be required for you to solve these types of problem, you will run into situations where the math gets in the way. This happens quite often when you run into mixed numbers in these types of word problems. You must have seen mixed numbers quite a few times in your math book. Before you get into adding or subtracting mixed numbers, first make sure you realize what they are. In fractions, mixed numbers are those that have an integer and a proper fraction. Much as they look intimidating, adding and subtracting mixed numbers that have the same denominators is not difficult, in fact it's pretty easy. Let's learn step by step addition and subtraction of mixed numbers with like denominators.
The first step is to convert both the mixed numbers into improper fraction. In case you want to know what, an improper fraction is; it is a fraction having greater numerator and smaller denominator. The way to covert mixed number into an improper fraction to multiplying the denominator with the integer and then adding the numerator into the answer.
2 3/4 - Multiply 4 (denominator) with 2 (integer) and add 3 (numerator) in the result. The result is 11/4.
After you have two improper fractions, add the numerators of the equation. Make sure that the denominators are same, else numerators can't be added. If the result is an improper fraction, reduce it into a mixed number.