What is A Quarter?

“25 is a quarter.”

“No, 15 is a quarter.”

“No it is not!! Even ask the teacher!”

Which student is right?

Both. But how?

   In different contexts they are right. Student one is talking about a quarter in reference to money, whereas student two was referring to time.

Its important for teachers to understand the context of each students conclusions and answers. If they are discussing fractions and are asked to put the value of ¼ out of 100 and a student puts 15 it is crucial to understand where they are coming from and to talk to them about why they answered what they did so that they know that they are not incorrect in saying that 15 is a quarter but that it just isn’t the answer in reference to money. If a student seems far off from the answer or like it is completely random, you need to make sure that you have a discussion with them to see how they got to that answer. They may be right just in the wrong context.

A quarter is not always just a coin.