Take a rectangular sheet of paper and fold it in half. Find all the different ways to make a half.
A rectangular paper can be folded in half in two main ways:
(1) Fold vertically: bringing the longer edges together, creating two smaller rectangles.
(2) Fold horizontally: bringing the shorter edges together, creating two smaller rectangles.
Both methods create two equal halves of the original rectangle.
Explanation
The chapter encourages hands-on exploration with paper folding. This activity helps students discover that a rectangle can be divided into halves in multiple ways. The key learning is that both resulting parts must be equal in area, regardless of the folding direction.
Solution Steps
Fold vertically - bringing the longer edges together, creating two smaller rectangles.
Fold horizontally - bringing the shorter edges together, creating two smaller rectangles.