Grade 5 · Math

Grade 5 math

Grade 5 is the year fractions and decimals get serious: adding them, comparing them, and using them in real problems. Division gets longer, and shapes get a third dimension. Here is what it covers, where kids usually get stuck, and one way to help.

What your child learns this year

Every curriculum words it differently, but most grade 5 classes cover the same ground:

  • Big numbers and decimals. Place value into the hundred-thousands, and decimals to hundredths (thousandths in the US).
  • Multiplying and dividing. Multi-digit multiplication, and division with bigger numbers and remainders.
  • Fractions. Equivalent fractions and adding and subtracting them: with the same bottoms in some curricula, different bottoms in others.
  • Measurement. Area of triangles and parallelograms, and volume of boxes.
  • Algebra and data. Patterns, simple equations with a missing number, and reading graphs.
  • In Ontario, also coding and money, including simple budgets.

Where kids usually get stuck

  1. 1Adding the bottoms. Writing 1/4 + 1/6 = 2/10. The pieces have to be the same size before they can be added.
  2. 2Thinking a longer decimal is bigger. 0.45 has more digits than 0.5, but 0.5 is bigger: it is 50 hundredths.
  3. 3Ignoring the remainder in a word problem. 130 students on buses that hold 40 is 3 remainder 10, so you need 4 buses, not 3.

One of Pip's tricks

Find a common denominator from the multiples

Use it when adding or subtracting fractions with different bottoms, like 1/4 + 1/6.

  1. List the multiples of each bottom number until you find one in both lists.
  2. Rewrite each fraction with that bottom, multiplying its top and bottom by the same number.
  3. Add or subtract the tops; the bottom stays the same.

Watch it work. 1/4 + 1/6. Multiples of 4: 4, 8, 12. Multiples of 6: 6, 12. Use 12. Then 1/4 = 3/12 and 1/6 = 2/12, and 3/12 + 2/12 = 5/12.

Why it works: you can only add pieces that are the same size, and a common denominator cuts both wholes into pieces of one size.

Try three

Have a go, then tap to see the answer.

  1. 1.1/3 + 1/4 = ?

    Show the answer

    7/12. 12 is in both lists of multiples: 1/3 = 4/12 and 1/4 = 3/12, and 4/12 + 3/12 = 7/12.

  2. 2.Which is bigger, 0.5 or 0.45?

    Show the answer

    0.5. 0.5 is the same as 0.50, which is 50 hundredths, and 50 hundredths is more than 45.

  3. 3.130 students are going on a trip. Each bus holds 40. How many buses are needed?

    Show the answer

    4 buses. 130 ÷ 40 is 3 with 10 left over, and those 10 students still need a bus.

How Sparkpip fits in

Pip, Sparkpip's tutor, works through problems like these with your child one small step at a time, using tricks like the one above.

Start freeSee how it works

Your curriculum

Sparkpip is built on the grade 5 math curriculum for your province or state. The official pages:

Also: Grade 4 math · Grade 6 math · Grade 5 science · Grade 5 English