Division as Sharing Worksheets
A great way to look at the division operation is the process of sharing. When we share something equally, everyone gets their fair share. No one gets more than the other person. For instance, if you and 3 friends (4 of you) buy an 8-slice pizza. It is shared equally if everyone gets 2 slices because 8 slices ÷ 4 people = 2 slices each. That’s what division is fair sharing. There will also be instances when it is not possible to share things easily because it does not divide equally. This means that there would be remainders. That may happen if 3 people were to share an 8-slice pizza because 8 slices ÷ 3 people = 2.67 slices each. You could try to cut the slices up precisely, but it would be difficult with a laser guided computer. These worksheets and lessons show students can be related to sharing items between differing numbers of people. This is a great way to introduce the topic to students.
Aligned Standard: 3.OA.A.3
- Sharing Candy Step-by-Step Lesson- Three girls share some lollipops. Each sequential girl has more than the other.
- Guided Lesson - Who in the world wants to share mosquitoes? Maybe a researcher, I guess.
- Guided Lesson Explanation - These are all three step problems for the most part.
- Matching Sheet - This is a fun one. It trips up many people; even adults.
- Practice Worksheet - I found some great clip art for these. I took a long time to put this one together.
- Answer Keys - These are for all the unlocked materials above.
Homework Sheets
Let me know if you like the format here. I tried something a bit different here with the font and spacing.
- Homework 1 - Share the balls so that each bat has two more balls than the last one.
- Homework 2 - The elves will be sharing the candy canes. Each elf will have 2 more than the last elf. How many candy canes does each elf get?
- Homework 3 - You have to share the ice creams so that each boy has five more than the last one. How many ice creams will each boy have?
Practice Worksheets
I focused more on images here.
- Practice 1 - Distribute the books, so that each kid gets 3 more than the last one.
- Practice 2 - Find the number of corn for the bear, monkey and elephant according to the above statement?
- Practice 3 - Share the eggs so that each toy has five more than the last one.
Math Skill Quizzes
Sentence completion is becoming much more prevalent on the recent tests I have seen.
- Quiz 1 - Mike, Steve, and Mark share a box of 18 pencils. Mike gets 4 of the pencils. Steve gets 6 pencils. Mark gets all the remaining pencils.
- Quiz 2 - If you were to evenly share 28 ice cream sandwiches with 4 classrooms, how many ice cream sandwiches would each class receive?
How Does Division and Sharing Relate?
When understanding the division operation, a lot of students face difficulty. It is not a simple operation like addition and subtraction which is, in a way, counting in one direction or another. A teacher uses the concept of sharing when helping the students grasp the concept of division. The reason behind it is that division and sharing are related because you are taking a set value and break it into set number of groups. Whenever we talk about sharing, we instantly know that we have to apply the division operation.
Whenever we are solving a division problem it is composed of three components:
Dividend ÷ Divisor = Quotient
The dividend is the number or value that we will be breaking up into groups. The divisor is the number of groups that we will be breaking it into. The quotient therefore is the number of each group receives.
Sharing is a keyword in a word problem that indicates that it is a division word problem. There are two types of sharing, equal sharing and unequal sharing. When we talk about unequal sharing, we might have to use the concept of ratios, which is also an application of division operation. Equal sharing requires simple division.
Example: Tony has five sons. He gave $100 to his eldest son and asked him to equally share it with his other four brother. How much money will each of Tony's son receive?
Solution: When you read the problem, you know that it talks about sharing which requires you to apply the division operation. You know the total amount that needs to be shared which is $100 and you know the number of shares that the amount must be divided in, which is five. You simply divide $100 by 5 and you get $20. Each son's share will be $20.