I remember learning fractions in school, and every teacher, without fail, related the idea to cake!

As you can imagine this was very engaging as a child, and now in my later life I often will say “I will have a third of that cake please”. That’s if I decide to share it! Most of my understanding of fractions relates to food and portioning of food.

Until recently, when we had our input on mathematics and music, I had no idea that fractions feature in music!

When reading music, the note determines how long the sound is played for. A whole note would last one measure and half a note would last for half a measure. Each of the notes in music relates to a fraction of the measure of time the note should be played.

It is important for a musician to have an understanding of fractions in order to interpret a piece of music.

We can use music to teach children about fractions in the same way that we use food. Using another context for learning could emphasise to children that there is not only one application of fractions in the wider world, but many.

I feel this relates to Liping Ma’s idea of connectedness. Not just connectedness between the mathematical concept itself but connections between the concept and ideas out with the subject area. This results in the different subject areas not being fragmented but the curriculum being recognised as a whole.