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Math for Kids23 chapters | 325 lessons
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I have a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and Spanish. I have taught for 5 years in bilingual classrooms of various elementary grade levels.
Think about the house that you live in and the family members that live in that house. Your family members are usually the only people that live in your house, right? You may have visitors that come to your house, but your family members are the only ones that LIVE there. Well, this is similar to a fact family house, or a set of three numbers that share the same multiplication and division facts. Take the numbers 2, 7, and 14, for example. I know that 2 times 7 equals 14. On the other hand, I know that 14 divided by 7 equals 2. It's important to remember that in a fact family, you will only see the same 3 members or numbers. This means that 2, 3, 4, and 5 could NOT make a fact family because there are too many numbers, and there can only be three. Also, 6, 9, and 21 could NOT be a fact family because they do not share the same multiplication and division facts. In addition, it's important to note that to create a fact family house, you will need to put the three numbers in the corners of the triangular roof, with the largest number at the top.
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In addition to only having three members or numbers, a fact family house will be tall because it has four floors! Two of the floors will show a number sentence of multiplication, or repeated addition of equal groups. The other two floors will show a number sentence of division, or repeated subtraction of equal groups. This is because multiplication is the inverse, or opposite operation that undoes division, and division is the inverse, or opposite operation that undoes multiplication. For example, take the numbers 3, 5, and 15. When you multiply 3 by 5 you get 15, and 5 times 3 is 15. Then, in order to divide, go the opposite direction and start with 15, so 15 divided by 3 is 5, and 15 divided by 5 is 3.
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Sometimes, you're not given all of the numbers that belong in a number sentence. Don't worry! You can find the missing number by using the inverse, or opposite operation. So, if you are given the problem 10 times _____ equals 60, you can use division and work backwards. Since 60 divided by 10 equals 6, the numbers in the fact family house are 6, 10, and 60. This will work the same for multiplication. Just go backwards in a division number sentence and use the multiplication symbol instead.
A fact family is a set of three numbers that share the same multiplication and division facts. To show all of the numbers and facts, you can use a fact family house. The house will have the three numbers in the corners of the roof and there will be four floors: two containing multiplication sentences and two containing division sentences. If any one of the numbers or number sentences is missing, you can just use the inverse, or opposite operation and work backwards to find that number or number sentence.
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Math for Kids23 chapters | 325 lessons
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