Question

Claire went home after school and told her mother that 1 whole is the same as 2/2 and 6/6. Her mother asked why, but Claire couldn't explain. Use a number line and words to help Claire show and explain why. 1 = 2/2 = 6/6.

Answer 1

2/2 means two halves or 1/2 and 1/2.

If we start at 0 on a number line and go 1/2 the distance between 0 and 1 and then 1/2 again we will end up at 1.

We can also think of cutting the distance from 0 to 1 into two equal pieces and then taking two such pieces. Together they equal 1 whole. That is the one unit from 0 to 1.

Similarly if we cut the distance into 6 and then take six such pieces we again get the whole distance from 0 to 1 or one whole.