Halves and quarters

In your book, Maths Mela (Chapter 5), Ikra and her little sister Samina want to draw, but they have only one drawing sheet. Samina wants the bigger part. So Ikra says: 'Would you like one half of the paper, or two quarters?' Samina thinks two quarters sounds bigger, so she picks two quarters.

When something is cut into two EQUAL parts, each part is called a half. We write a half as 1/2. When something is cut into four EQUAL parts, each part is called a quarter. We write a quarter as 1/4. The word 'equal' is important: if the parts are different sizes, they are not halves or quarters.

Now think about Ikra's sheet. Cut the sheet down the middle: one side is a half. Cut the other half down its middle: you get two quarters. The two quarters together fill exactly the same space as the half. So two quarters make one half, and Ikra shared the paper equally! Samina did not get more; she only got it in two pieces.

There are many ways to cut a rectangle sheet into halves. You can fold it top edge to bottom edge, or left edge to right edge, or cut from one corner to the opposite corner. Each way gives two parts of the same size. To make quarters, fold it in half and then in half again.