Game to Order Fractions, Decimals and Percentages
A maths game to master something exams test constantly and few students really own: comparing numbers written in different ways. A card appears —a fraction, a decimal, a percentage or an integer— and you place it in order on a growing line, least to greatest. Dropping it reveals its decimal value, so every hit (and every miss) shows that 3/4, 0.75 and 75% are the same point on the line.
Mathematics · Primary, Secondary
A worksheet usually asks you to order only fractions, or only decimals. The real exam difficulty is the mix: is 2/3 or 0.7 bigger? 3/5 or 55%? This drills exactly that — where students slip.
Because the decimal value is revealed as you place each card, students check again and again that 1/2 = 0.5 = 50%. It stops being a memorised rule and becomes obvious on the number line.
Ordering least to greatest forces each number onto a continuum, not into separate boxes. That image of the line —with zero, negatives on the left and fractions between the integers— underpins scale, measurement and coordinates later on.
"The line holds 1/4, 1/2 and 95%. The card "0.7" appears. The player reasons: 1/4 is 0.25, 1/2 is 0.5, 95% is 0.95; 0.7 goes between 1/2 and 95%. They place it there and get it right — and dropping it confirms "0.7", reinforcing that 1/2 was 0.5 and 95% was 0.95."
Prefer to learn without screens? Try this analogue version:
Write 8–10 numbers on small cards, mixing fractions, decimals and percentages (3/4, 0.6, 2/5, 70%…).
Draw a long line with 0 and 1 marked (add a negative to raise the level).
Place each card in order on the line, least to greatest.
Check by turning them all into decimals: if the order matches they are right; if not, find where the comparison failed.
If you like Least to Greatest, these activities work similar skills:
Tuthor's other fractions game: build a fraction by tapping slices and discover equivalences visually, before moving on to comparing them as numbers.
Revise equivalences, operations and converting fractions to decimals and percentages in test format.
A rope with 0 at one end and 1 at the other: each student gets a number (as a fraction, decimal or %) and physically stands where they think it goes. Ordering with your body sticks better.
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