SUBTRACTION OF SIMILAR FRACTIONS AND

MIXED NUMBERS
Lesson Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, the student should be able to:
• Illustrate subtraction of similar fractions;
• Subtract similar fractions and mixed numbers; and
• Solve word problems involving subtraction of similar fractions and mixed
numbers.
Did You Know?
Two of the largest provinces in Region 6 are Negros
Occidental and Iloilo. Negros Occidental occupies about of the

region’s land area while Iloilo occupies about of the region’s land
area.
Q – What is the difference between the fractions that represent the land area of
Negros Occidental and Iloilo?
Since the question has a clue word “difference”. This means that we are
going to use subtraction. In numbe, that’s 2/5 – 1/5 = N.
Illustration:

–
______________________________
Based from the illustration, we will be taking away one shaded part.
Thus, minus is .

Teachers’ Notes:
1. Divide the class into 3 groups. Distribute the materials and worksheet. Have
each group do Activities 1 – 3.
2. Instruct the class to illustrate the fractions in the activities to visualize them.
3. Ask: What can you say about the sums of the fractions in the three problems?
Perform the following task.
Activity 1.
Given of a banana cake, take away 2 slices. What part of the
whole banana cake was left?
Activity 2.
Divide the construction paper into eight equal parts. Cut two parts.
Determine what part of the construction paper was left.
Activity 3.
Given three bottles with sand inside it, pour out the sand in 1 bottle
and of the sand in another bottle. What fraction of sand in the bottles
was left?
Recall:
• To subtract similar fractions, subtract the numerators of the given fractions and
copy the same denominator;
• To subtract mixed numbers of fractions with the same denominators, we follow
these steps:
1. Subtract the fractional parts;
2. Subtract the whole numbers; and
3. Simplify the answer.
Exercises:
A. (Illustrate the following to your students) Name the fraction for the shaded parts
in the first and second figures, then subtract. Shade the part of the third figure that
represents the difference.
Exercises:
B. Subtract the following fractions.

1. - = 2. - = 3. - =

4. - = 5. - =
Exercises:
C. Find the value of n using illustrations.

1. - =n 2. 2 -1 =n 3. 3-1 =n

4. 6 -2 =n 5. 15 - 9 = n
Application:

1. Mother bought 1 kilogram of brown sugar. She used kilogram of it for her
ginataan. How many kilograms of sugar was left?

2. Lydia has 3 meters of cloth. She used 1 for her blouse. How many meters of
cloth was left?

3. Marjon used 3 kilograms of flour in making doughnut and 2 kilograms in

making maja blanca. If he has 10 kilograms of flour, what part of
the flour was left?