Bacon Revisited: Fact Families

Bacon revisited: Fact families

Bacon is the perfect context to reinforce fact families!

Child: Hey Mom! We have 6 pieces of bacon for three people.

Mom: Oh, how many pieces should each person get?

Child: Two

Mom: That’s right. Six divided by three is two, and six divided by two is three. What are the other facts in this fact family?

Child: Umm...

Mom: What kind of facts go with division to make a fact family?

Child: Multiplication.

Mom: That’s right. 6/3=2. 6/2=3. What are the multiplication facts to go with this?

Child: 2x3=6 and 3x2=6?

Mom: You got it!

Fact families help children learn four math facts at once. They also are a precursor to solving for x in algebraic equations such as 3x=6. Multiplication and division facts using the same numbers make up a family, such as in this problem. Addition and subtraction facts using the same numbers also make up a family. Make up your own fact family today!

Examples:

3x2=6; 2x3=6; 6/3=2; 6/2=3

7+8=15; 8+7=15; 15-7=8; 15-8=7