1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on the Microsoft Educator Network.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location, take a Skype lesson on today’s topic, or invite a guest speaker to expand on today’s subject. And if you are using Windows 8, the panoramas in the MSN Travel App are great teaching tools. We have thousands of other education apps available on Windows here.
Nell Bang-Jensen is a teacher and theater artist living in Philadelphia, PA. Her passion for arts education has led her to a variety of roles including developing curriculum for Philadelphia Young Playwrights and teaching at numerous theaters and schools around the city. She works with playwrights from ages four to ninety on developing new work and is especially interested in alternative literacies and theater for social change. A graduate of Swarthmore College, she currently works in the Artistic Department of the Wilma Theater and, in addition to teaching, is a freelance actor and dramaturg. In 2011, Nell was named a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and spent her fellowship year traveling to seven countries studying how people get their names.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Number & Operations—Fractions
CCSS.Math.Content.4.NF.A.1 Explain why a fraction a/b is equivalent to a fraction (n × a)/(n × b) by using visual fraction models, with attention to how the number and size of the parts differ even though the two fractions themselves are the same size. Use this principle to recognize and generate equivalent fractions.
CCSS.Math.Content.4.NF.A.2 Compare two fractions with different numerators and different denominators, e.g., by creating common denominators or numerators, or by comparing to a benchmark fraction such as 1/2. Recognize that comparisons are valid only when the two fractions refer to the same whole. Record the results of comparisons with symbols >, =, or <, and justify the conclusions, e.g., by using a visual fraction model.

2. How could we use fractions to compare the number of times Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow with the chance that he will each year?
© Michael Dietrich/Alamy
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. How could we use fractions to compare the number of times Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow with the chance that he will each year?
Happy Groundhog Day! Here’s an alpine marmot to help us celebrate. While it’s no groundhog, the alpine marmot is an extraordinary creature. As the name suggests, this species of marmot is found in the grassy meadows and rocky slopes of the Alps, but there are also populations in the Carpathians, Pyrenees, and Tatras mountain ranges.
Given the harsh winter conditions of its habitat, the alpine marmot copes by sleeping -- and sleeping. Hibernations can last from October to April, but some have been observed staying in hibernation for nine months.
To hide from the elements, an alpine marmot digs a burrow through soil so hard, a human would have trouble breaking it with a pickaxe. Once it enters full hibernation sleep, the alpine marmot can slow its heart rate to just five beats per minute. This helps reduce its metabolism so it can survive by slowly using up its fat reserves.
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. How could we use fractions to compare the number of times Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow with the chance that he will each year? 1
Web Search
What determines whether Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow? 2
Web Search/Thinking
If you don’t consider what’s happened in the past, what are the chances that Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow? How could you represent this as a fraction? 3
If we know the number of times Punxsutawney Phil has emerged at all and the number of times he’s seen his shadow, what would be the denominator of this fraction and what would be the numerator? 4
How many times has Punxsutawney Phil emerged on Groundhog Day, on record? 5
How many times has Punxsutawney Phil seen his shadow on Groundhog Day, on record?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. How could we use fractions to compare the number of times Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow with the chance that he will each year? 5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. How could we use fractions to compare the number of times Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow with the chance that he will each year? 1
Web Search
What determines whether Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow? 2
Web Search/Thinking
If you don’t consider what’s happened in the past, what are the chances that Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow? How could you represent this as a fraction? 3
If we know the number of times Punxsutawney Phil has emerged at all and the number of times he’s seen his shadow, what would be the denominator of this fraction and what would be the numerator? 4
How many times has Punxsutawney Phil emerged on Groundhog Day, on record? 5
How many times has Punxsutawney Phil seen his shadow on Groundhog Day, on record?

7. How could we use fractions to compare the number of times Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow with the chance that he will each year? 1
Web Search
What determines whether Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow?
(Possible Search Queries: “for kids, how Groundhog Day works”, “for kids, why will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow?”).
From
Groundhog Day, February 2nd, is a popular tradition in the United States. It is also a legend that traverses centuries, its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates. Myths such as this tie our present to the distant past when nature did, indeed, influence our lives. It is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow. If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole. If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.

8. How could we use fractions to compare the number of times Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow with the chance that he will each year? 2
Web Search/Thinking
If you don’t consider what’s happened in the past, what are the chances that Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow? How could you represent this as a fraction?
(Possible Search Queries: “for kids, chances Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow?”, “for kids, will Groundhog Day be cloudy or sunny?”).
It may be useful for students to first look through articles predicting whether Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow (for example: For our purposes here, it is most helpful for students to then think about how there is a pretty equal chance that it will be cloudy or sunny on any given day (which determines whether Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow or not). This means that there are 2 options, and the day being sunny or cloudy each represents 1 of those options. Without considering what’s happened in the past we can assume that there is an equal chance of it being either of those options. Therefore, we can represent the chance that Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow as 1 out of 2 options, or ½.

9. How could we use fractions to compare the number of times Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow with the chance that he will each year? 3
Web Search/Thinking
If we know the number of times Punxsutawney Phil has emerged at all and the number of times he’s seen his shadow, what would be the denominator of this fraction and what would be the numerator?
(Possible Search Queries: “for kids, what is a denominator?”, “for kids, what is a numerator?”).
It may be helpful for students to first look up definitions of a numerator and denominator such as the ones found here and here Based on the definitions and examples these resources provide, students should understand that the denominator will represent the whole and the numerator represents a part of that whole. Therefore, in this example, the denominator will be the total number of times Punxsutawney Phil has emerged at all, and the numerator will be the number of times he’s seen his shadow (or number of times he hasn’t seen his shadow, depending on which part of the whole we’re considering).

10. How could we use fractions to compare the number of times Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow with the chance that he will each year? 4
Web Search/Thinking
How many times has Punxsutawney Phil emerged on Groundhog Day, on record?
(Possible Search Queries: “how many times has Punxsutawney Phil come out on Groundhog Day?”, “how many times has Punxutawney Phil emerged on record?”).
Answers will vary, depending on where students look. For example, from
Punxsutawney Phil has been in charge of telling us how long winter will wear on (and, conversely, when spring will finally bloom) since 1886, all based on whether or not he sees his shadow on the morning of February 2nd (if he sees his shadow, we’re in for six more weeks of winter, if he doesn’t, spring will come early). Yes, that means that Phil is a sprightly 124 years old and, no, there are no other Phils.
In other words, we know Punxsutawney Phil has emerged on record at least 124 times.

11. How could we use fractions to compare the number of times Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow with the chance that he will each year? 5
Web Search/Thinking
How many times has Punxsutawney Phil seen his shadow on Groundhog Day, on record?
(Possible Search Queries: “how many times has Punxsutawney Phil seen his shadow?”, “Groundhog Day records”).
From
Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow 100 out of 116 times.
According to this report, Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow 100 times on record.

12. How could we use fractions to compare the number of times Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow with the chance that he will each year?
Students should create two fractions based on the information they have gathered and then compare them. They should have determined that, hypothetically, there is an equal chance of it being cloudy or sunny on any given day (though they may want to discuss the fact that in early February, it is probably a little more likely to be cloudy). Still, this probability can be approximated as ½.
They should then create a fraction to represent the number of times Punxutawney Phil has seen his shadow out of the total number of times he’s emerged, on record. Exact answers will vary depending on what resources students use, but the fraction they create should be close to 100/116.
Students should then compare these fractions. They should understand that in order to compare ½ and 100/116, they will need to find a common denominator. They can use multiplication to do so. For example:
½ = x/116, x = 58
So ½ = 58/116.
Students can then compare fractions to determine that 58/116 (the hypothetical chance that Punxutawney Phil has seen his shadow) < 100/116 (the number of times Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow). Students should then think more broadly about what this means: although initially it may seem like there is an equal chance of him seeing his shadow (there’s a roughly equal chance of it being sunny or cloudy on any given day), in actuality, he has seen has shadow many more times than he has not. (In other words, we almost always get 6 more weeks of winter based on his prediction!)