Ratios,

Proportions,
and
Proportional Reasoning

Dr. Juliana Utley

Connection to the Standards

Attention to developing flexibility in working with
rational numbers contributes to students understanding
of, and facility with, proportionality. Facility with
proportionality involves much more than setting two
ratios equal and solving for the missing term. It
involves recognizing quantities that are related
proportionally and using numbers, tables, graphs, and
equations to think about the quantities and their
relationship. Proportionality is an important integrative
thread that connects many of the mathematics topics in
grades 6-8 (NCTM, 2000, 217).

Proportional Reasoning

Having a strong intuitive understanding of proportions

and the flexibility to deal with them in multiple ways is
one of the hallmarks of number sense that middle
grades students need to build (Rubenstein,
Beckmann, & Thompson; 1999, p. 123).
Foundational concept for studying algebra and higher
levels of mathematics
Should be a goal of the MS curriculum
Developed through extensive use of activities that
require students to

Compare and find equivalent ratios

Solve proportions in a variety of contexts

Pre-Requisite Knowledge Needed

Experience

with the use of rational numbers

(integers, fractions, and decimals).
Experience with and conceptual
understanding of equivalent fractions is an
absolute necessity for understanding
proportional relationships and solving
problems involving proportions.

Ratio
A ratio is a multiplicative comparison of two
quantities or measures. (VDW, 2007, p.353)

Contexts for ratios

Part

to whole ratios
7 girls out of a total of 15 students
Part to part ratios
7 girls for every 8 boys
Rates as ratios
30 miles per gallon

Fraction and Ratio: The distinction

Ratios can compare nonsimiliar objects, that is, objects
measured with different units: for example, 3 lemons for 89
cents.
Fractions, on the other hand, are used to compare the same type
of objects such as two of the three parts, which is denoted
2/3. The ratio of three lemons/89 cents is not a fraction.
Some ratios are not represented as fractions; for example, one
gallon per 400 square feet. There is no fraction notation
needed to convey this relationship although the comparison
could be equivalently denoted as one gallon/400 square feet.

Fraction and Ratio: The distinction

Ratios can use zero as the second entry; for example, ten green candies to
zero red candies in a particular package. Fractions, on the other hand, are
not defined with a zero denominator.

Ratios are not always rational; for example, in circles the ratio of the
circumference to a diameter is equal to (C/D=) and is not a rational
number because it cannot be expressed as a division of two integers. Also,
in a square, the side length to the diagonal is 1: and since is not equal to the
ratio of two integers, it is not a rational number. Fractions, on the other
hand, by their very nature are rational numbers because every fraction is
equal to the division of two integers.

Ratios do not combine the same way fractions combine;

for example:
3 3 5

5 7 12
2:5 + 3:7 = 5:12; however,

Ratio: Symbols
There are a variety of ways to represent a ratio:

Using a colon 3:5

Using words 3 to 5; 3 out of every 5;
Using a fraction 3
5
3
5

The colon is the most common way used in the

United States.

Examples of Ratios
Trigonometric Functions ratios of sides of a right triangle
Pi () ratio of circumference to the diameter of a circle
Golden Ratio - 1 5 1.618 seen in paintings,
2
sculptures, architectural design, etc.
Slope of a line rate of change; ratio of the change in x to the
change in y

Connections

Mathematics: slope of a line

Construction: Pitch of a roof
Science: The ratio of hydrogen atoms to oxygen in water (H2O) is 2:1,
TV Production: Movie Theater screens have an aspect ratio of 16:9,
which means that the screen is 16/9 as wide as it is high
Music: The interval of a perfect fifth is formed by two pitches, or
frequencies, at a ratio of 3:2, with the higher note being 1.5 times the
frequency of the lower
Probability: ratio of the probability of something happening to the
probability of it not happening is called the odds of the thing happening

Proportion
A proportion describes the equality between two
equivalent ratios.
Proportion

Equivalent Fractions

3 6

4 8

Connections to our daily lives

Enlarging

or reducing a carpentry plan

Using a scale on a map to find an actual
distance
Revising a recipe to make a larger or smaller
quantity
Determining unit prices of comparable products
to find the better buy
Estimating the distance to be traveled in a day
from the anticipated average speed and
number of hours to be traveled

Informal Proportional Contexts Qualitative

Answer the following questions, if possible. Think about how middle
grades students might respond.

Michaela ran fewer laps in more time today than she did
yesterday. How does her speed today compare with yesterday?

Dorian drove fewer miles in less time today than yesterday. How
does his speed today compare with yesterday?

Marcus and Keisha were both served soup from the same pot.
Marcus put 2 teaspoons of slat in his bowl of soup. Keisha had a
larger amount of soup in her bowl and added 1 teaspoon of salt.
Compare the saltiness of the two soups.

Quantitative Contexts
Solve each of the following Explain your thinking to your partner

School Groups: Mrs. Smith put her students into groups of 6. Each
group had 4 boys. If she has 42 students, how many girls and how
many boys are in her class?

Pencil Cases: Tiffany, Rochelle, and Trudy bought 3 pencil cases and
paid $2 for all three cases. They decided to go back and buy 24 cases
so everyone in their class could have one. How much did they pay for
24 cases?

Lap Running: Cal and Jon run at the same pace. Cal started running
laps before Jon arrived. Cal had run 8 laps when Jon had run 2. How
many laps had Cal run by the time Jon had run 12?

Field Mowing: If 3 students take 5 hours to mow a field, how long

would 6 students take to mow the same field?

Analyzing Student work

Use handout of student work on these four
problems and the Think-Pair-Share strategy
to analyze their solutions
Individually look at the two examples of
student work for school groups
Discuss with your partner the strategies the
students used
Repeat with the other 3 contexts

School Groups

Pencil Cases

Lap Running

Field Mowing

Scaling
Scaling activities allows students to make
sense of ratios and proportional reasoning.
Lets try some!

Activities

Scaling (scale factor)

Scale drawings
Use grid paper to enlarge or reduce drawings
Use a pantograph (a rubber band version works well)
Create a larger version of a set of pentominoes using 1tiles then transferring to 1
grids

Ratio Tables
3D similar constructions
Use different sized cubes to find similar buildings (see VDW p. 365)

Percent
changing a fraction to a percent can be thought of as equivalent
fractions or proportions

Contexts
Capture/Recapture fish biologist

Capture-Recapture Scenario
You have gone to work as a biologist for the
National Fish Hatchery in Tishomingo,
Oklahoma. Your boss sends you out to
estimate the number of fish in Lake Carl
Blackwell.

Characteristics of a proportional
thinker

Have a sense of covariation understand the

relationships between two quantities and how they
vary together
Able to distinguish between proportional and
nonproportional relationships in real world contexts.
Can use a wide variety of informal strategies to solve
proportional relationships rather than prescribed
algorithms
understand ratios as distinct entities representing a
relationship different from the quantities they
compare

Levels of Proportional Thinking

Level 0: Nonproportional reasoning

Guesses or uses visual clues

Is unable to recognize multiplicative relationships
Randomly uses numbers, operations, or strategies
Is unable to link the two measures

Level 1: Informal reasoning about proportional situations

Use pictures, models, or manipulatives to make sense of situations

Makes qualitative comparisons

Level 2: Quantitative Reasoning

Unitizes or uses composite units

Finds and uses unit rate
Identifies or uses scalar factor or table
Uses equivalent fractions
Build up both measures

Level 3: Formal proportional reasoning

Sets up proportion using variables and solves using cross-product rule or equivalent
fractions
Fully understands that the ratio between two values stays constant even though the
values themselves may change
(Rubenstein, Beckmann, & Thompson; 1999, p. 125)

Concept before Procedure

To some students, using proportional reasoning is just a matter of
setting up a proportion, placing corresponding measures properly,
and using cross-products to solve. But researchers caution
strongly against focusing on this as the first, only, or best
approach. For one, most students dont know why it works. For
another, students may misapply the procedure to situations that
are not proportional (Rubenstein, Beckmann, & Thompson; 1999,
p. 123).
Premature use of rules encourages students to apply rules without
thinking and, thus, the ability to reason proportionally often does
not develop (Van de Walle, 2007, p. 355).
Research indicates that more than half of the adult population would
not be considered proportional thinkers (Lamon, 1999).

Things to remember as you plan

instruction
Students need to learn to think about situations that
involve both qualitative and quantitative contexts.
Students need to be able to distinguish between
proportional and nonproportional situations.
Develop concept before procedures

Using Childrens Literature

NCTM Newsletter, March 2002

Proportional Reasoning Resources

Books:
Proportional Reasoning, Sheldon Erickson, 2003, AIMS Educational Foundation
Contains a variety of ready made activities using real-world contexts. This book contains six
sections that address the foundations of proportional reasoning, similarity, enlargements,
scaling, rates, and human proportions.
Teaching Fractions and Ratios for Understanding, Susan J. Lamon, 2005, Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates
Contains student activities and a narrative for the teacher. Provides the reader with student
examples. While the focus is on ratios and fractions it leads to the last chapter on thinking
proportionally.
Making Sense of Fractions, Ratios, and Proportions, Bonnie Litwiller and George Bright (Editors),
2002 Yearbook, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Contains a variety of chapters dealing with fractions, ratios, and proportions. The book contains
three sections focusing on elementary, middle, and professional development. It contains a
supplementary booklet that contains activities for use in the classroom.
Comparing and Scaling: Ratio, Proportion, and Percent, Connected Mathematics, 2002,
Prentice Hall
One of the books in the Connected Mathematics Curriculum. A good resource for studentcentered activities to engage students to think.

Proportional Reasoning Resources

Childrens Books:
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth, Kathryn Lasky, 1994,
Little and Brown
If Dogs Were Dinosaurs, David M. Schwartz, 2005, Scholastic
Press
If You Hopped Like a Frog, David M. Schwartz, 1999, Scholastic
Press
The Borrowers, Norton, 1953.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, J. K. Rowling, 1998,
Scholastic Press
Counting on Frank, Clement, 1991

Proportional Reasoning Resources

Articles:
Capture and Recapture Your Students Interest in
Statistics, June G. Morita, March 1999,
Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School
The Giants Project, Susanne Levin Weinberg, penny
L. Hammrich, and Matthew H. Bruce, 2003,
Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School
Assessing Proportional Thinking, George W. Bright,
Jeane Joyner, & Charles Wallis, 2001, Mathematics
Teaching in the Middle School