Construct a whole when given a part and the number of parts

I can construct a whole when given a part and the number of parts.

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Year 3

Construct a whole when given a part and the number of parts

I can construct a whole when given a part and the number of parts.

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Share activities with pupils

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Lesson details

Key learning points

If you know one part and how many parts there are we can construct the whole.
If you know that the part is one out of 4 equal parts we can draw the whole.
The whole can be one shape or a group of objects.

Keywords

Whole - The whole is all the parts or everything, the total amount.
Part - A part is some of the whole.
Construct - Constructing something involves making something by joining parts together.

Common misconception

Children might think that any shape they draw around or use is a whole and the new shapes they create represent lots of wholes joined together.

Ensure the children understand that a whole can be anything and can change as you add parts to it. A piggy bank is a good analogy for this as you are constantly adding money to the whole and it is made up of many parts.

Make use of 2D shapes as stencils here. The shape in question 1 of Task A can easily be replaced with something more available to all the children.

Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).