357 - Common Denominator
"I give up! It's too hard!"
This exclamation from Kermit's little nephew Robin made Scooter stop on his way up the stairs from the theater canteen. He looked back over his shoulder in time to see the young frog slam a textbook shut and set his pencil down so hard on the table that it bounced and rolled onto the floor.
"Hey, what's the matter Robin?" Scooter asked, coming back down the stairs and up behind the frogling. Casually he turned the textbook around so that he could see the title: 'Math'. "Homework got ya down?"
Robin nodded. "We're learning how to add and subtract fractions. But its too hard!"
"Lemme see here." Scooter sat down at the table beside Robin and took a peek at the little frog's homework. It was a worksheet comprised of about ten or so addition and subtraction problems, all of them having to do with fractions. The first problem had faint traces of pencil where Robin had tried to figure it out but couldn't. "Well, this isn't so bad. All you have to do is work the fractions down so that they have a common denominator."
"A what?" asked Robin, looking up at Scooter.
"Make it so that the numbers at the bottoms of the fractions are the same. Here; let me show you." Grabbing a napkin and Robin's pencil, Scooter quickly jotted down the first problem that was on Robin's math worksheet and showed him how to get the denominators down to the same number, then added them up. "See?"
Robin watched as Scooter worked out the problem. "Hey, yeah!" he said, grinning. "I think I get it now!"
"Good," Scooter responded with a smile of his own. "Think you can handle the rest of these now?"
The young frog nodded. "Thanks, Scooter!"
"Anytime, Robin."
This exclamation from Kermit's little nephew Robin made Scooter stop on his way up the stairs from the theater canteen. He looked back over his shoulder in time to see the young frog slam a textbook shut and set his pencil down so hard on the table that it bounced and rolled onto the floor.
"Hey, what's the matter Robin?" Scooter asked, coming back down the stairs and up behind the frogling. Casually he turned the textbook around so that he could see the title: 'Math'. "Homework got ya down?"
Robin nodded. "We're learning how to add and subtract fractions. But its too hard!"
"Lemme see here." Scooter sat down at the table beside Robin and took a peek at the little frog's homework. It was a worksheet comprised of about ten or so addition and subtraction problems, all of them having to do with fractions. The first problem had faint traces of pencil where Robin had tried to figure it out but couldn't. "Well, this isn't so bad. All you have to do is work the fractions down so that they have a common denominator."
"A what?" asked Robin, looking up at Scooter.
"Make it so that the numbers at the bottoms of the fractions are the same. Here; let me show you." Grabbing a napkin and Robin's pencil, Scooter quickly jotted down the first problem that was on Robin's math worksheet and showed him how to get the denominators down to the same number, then added them up. "See?"
Robin watched as Scooter worked out the problem. "Hey, yeah!" he said, grinning. "I think I get it now!"
"Good," Scooter responded with a smile of his own. "Think you can handle the rest of these now?"
The young frog nodded. "Thanks, Scooter!"
"Anytime, Robin."