This is a whole circle.

Here is the circle divided into \(2\) equal parts.

Each part is called a half. The whole circle is made of two halves.

This picture shows one half colored blue.

The number one half looks like this. \[\frac{1}{2}\]

The \(2\) on bottom means \(2\) equal parts. The \(1\) on top means \(1\) of those parts. So, \(\frac{1}{2}\) of the circle is colored blue.

Here is a rectangle.

This picture shows one half of the rectangle colored blue.

What fraction do you think would describe the blue part of this rectangle?

There are \(3\) parts so the fraction has a \(3\) on the bottom. One of the parts is blue, so the fraction has a \(1\) on top. The fraction is \[\frac{1}{3}\] It is called one third.

The fraction \(\frac{2}{3}\) would look like a rectangle cut into \(3\) parts and \(2\) of the parts are colored blue. Here is a rectangle that is two thirds colored blue.

Here are pictures that show fourths of a circle.

One fourth.

Two fourths.

Three fourths.

Four fourths.