Relate Division and Subtraction

Division is an operation on two numbers that tells how many groups, or how many are in each group

We use the symbol ‘÷’ to represent division

Use models to represent division

For example: 12 ÷ 4 = 3; use 12 counters and place equal number of counters in each group

Number of counters in each group (N) = Number of times we subtracted; 12 – 4 = 8; 8 – 4 = 4; 4 – 4 = 0; we subtracted 3 times; N = 3

We can relate division and subtraction using repeated subtraction

For example, to divide 15 ÷ 5, keep subtracting 5 from 15 until you reach 0

Number of times we have subtracted to reach 0, or a number less than the divisor represents division

Use a number line to relate division and subtraction

Number of jumps represents the division; for example, to divide 17 by 4, we jump 4 times to reach 1; 17 ÷ 4 = 4 (remainder 1)