FREE Sink that Ship! Locate Benchmark Fractions on a Number Line
- Grades
- Grades 3–5, Elementary
- Pages
- 8
- File type
- Preparation
- Print ready
- Subject
- Math, Fractions
- Topic
- Fractions, Number lines
- Resource types
- Activities, Games
- Preparation
- Print ready
- Standards
- 3.NF.A.2
Product description
From the author
Sink That Ship is an engaging 3-player game for practicing locating benchmark fractions on a number line. Students take turns playing the roles of Spy, Control Tower, and Commander. The Spy marks fractional ship coordinates on a number line and hands it to the Control Tower. The Control Tower uses this information to give the Commander coordinates to attack. After all 3 roles are played, the Spy with the most ships remaining is the winner! This activity makes the abstract concept of plotting fractions on a number line interactive and fun. As students read and locate fractions, they develop an essential understanding of fractional parts of a whole and measurement. The differentiated "challenge mode" provides further practice opportunities. This multiplayer game is easy to implement, addictive for students, and supports practice representing fractions on number lines.
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In the classroom
Teaching tips & learning objectives
Learning objectives
Locate a benchmark fraction at the correct point on a number line
Estimate a position on a number line by distance travelled rather than by counting tick marks
Compare an estimated mark against the true position by overlaying one number line on another
Teaching tips
The tips page names the mistake to expect: students count the tick marks to name the fraction, when they should be counting the spaces and thinking about how far the ship has travelled.
Drawing water along the top number line is suggested in the file itself, so that the halfway point means a ship halfway across a body of water rather than an abstract one half.
Before Challenge Mode, model how to name positions between the printed whole-number labels. The Commander board shows whole numbers while the Control Tower also shows the fractional intervals.
Skills covered
Locating benchmark fractions on a number line - the Control Tower calls a coordinate such as "A, one half" and the Commander has to find that exact point on their own line without seeing the original.
Estimating by distance - the teaching notes push students to count the spaces between tick marks and think about how far the ship has gone, rather than counting the marks themselves.
Checking an estimate against the truth - the two sleeves are laid one over the other with the edges lined up, so every mark is compared directly and the misses are visible.
Good to know
Questions teachers ask about this resource
How does a round actually run?
The Spy marks three one-inch ships on the Control Tower's number lines, each centred on a tick mark, and hands the sheet over. The Control Tower and the Commander sit facing each other but cannot see each other's lines. The Control Tower calls one coordinate at a time and the Commander marks an estimate for each. When all the marks are made, the Commander lays their sleeve over the Control Tower's lines with the edges aligned. Every ship not hit scores the Spy a point, then the roles rotate.
What changes in Challenge Mode?
The boards use whole-number labels 1–3 on A, 4–7 on B and 8–11 on C. The Control Tower also has fractional tick marks, while the Commander estimates positions between whole numbers. Model those positions before play.
What has to be gathered before the first game?
Two plastic sheets or sleeves, two dry erase markers and two erasers, alongside the printed boards. Both the Control Tower and Commander number lines go into sleeves, which is what makes the marks wipeable and the overlay check at the end possible.
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Curriculum
Standards, concepts & topics
Standards
Standards
- 3.NF.A.2
Core concepts
Core concepts
Benchmark fractions
Number lines
Estimation
Fractions
Topics
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