Question

Cameron has 4 clown fish in his fish tank. One third of the fish in the tank are clown fish. How many fish does Cameron have in his tank?

Describe how to draw a diagram to solve.

The denominator in 1/3 tells you that there are ___ equal parts in the whole group. Draw 3 circles to show ___ equal parts.
Since 4 fish are 1/3 of the whole group, draw ___ counters in the first circle.
Since there are ___ counters in the first circle, draw ___ counters in each of the remaining circles. Then find the total number of counters.
So Cameron has ___ fish in his tank

Answer 1

Cameron will have 12 fish

Answer 2

Cameron has 12 fish.
The denominator in 1/3 tells you that there are THREE equal parts in the whole group. Draw 3 circles to show THREE equal parts.
Since 4 fish are 1/3 of the whole group, draw FOUR counters in the first circle.
Since there are FOUR counters in the first circle, draw FOUR counters in each of the remaining circles. Then find the total number of counters.
So Cameron has TWELVE fish in his tank