ABSTRACT
The concept of equivalent fractions is very important later when children have to add and subtract fractions, so care must be taken to present it well. The procedure for multiplying fractions appears to be much simpler than that for addition, but the problem situations which give rise to calculations are more difficult. Situations which might give rise to calculations involving fractions can be discussed using the 'lots of' or 'sets of' model of multiplication. In many ways the rules for adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing decimals are similar to those used for whole numbers, so most children find them much easier to cope with than fractions. The third method of writing parts is by percentages. These give the number of parts out of a hundred that are required. Although children are related to fractions and decimals, percentages are used and manipulated in different ways.
