Line Plots with Fractions
Free printable line plot worksheets with fractions: measurements in quarters, two plots a sheet. Read, compare and subtract fractions, with an answer key.
Each sheet draws two line plots of measurements: lengths of ribbons, pencils and worms in inches, weights of puppies in pounds, water in bottles in cups, and distances run in miles. The line runs two whole units in quarters, every tick labelled, with an X above a measurement each time it was taken. Four questions follow each plot.
The labels keep the plot's own denominator: 1, 1 1/4, 1 2/4, 1 3/4, 2, and never 1 1/2 in the middle of a line of quarters. With one denominator across the line, the greatest value minus the least is subtraction with like denominators, the fraction work fourth grade does with line plots. The answer key gives answers in quarters as well, and a student who simplifies 2/4 to 1/2 is still right.
Change the line to halves for a gentler start, or to eighths, where the line runs one whole unit and the steps get smaller. Whatever the unit, every X sits on a labelled tick and only one value is the most common.
What this worksheet covers
- Read fractional measurements from a line plot
- Subtract fractions with like denominators using a line plot's data
Common Core standards
- 4.MD.B.4 Make a line plot of measurements in fractions of a unit, and solve fraction addition and subtraction problems with its data.
Frequently asked questions
How do you subtract fractions read off a line plot?
Read the two values, which on these sheets share a denominator, then subtract the whole numbers and the numerators separately. From 1 1/4 up to 2 3/4 is 1 2/4: one whole and two quarters. Simplified, that is 1 1/2.
Why is one half written as 2/4?
Because every other label on a quarters line is in quarters. Keeping one denominator means a student can count steps along the line and subtract numerators directly, without first finding a common denominator.
What grade uses fractions on a line plot?
Third grade measures lengths to the nearest half and quarter inch and shows them on a line plot. Fourth grade adds eighths and uses the plot to add and subtract fractions, and fifth grade uses all four operations on fractions with the same kind of data.
Which questions have a fraction for an answer?
The greatest value minus the least, and which value appears most often: both are lengths read in quarters. How many X's are above a value, how many more, and how many in all are whole-number counts.