Fair Share – Class 3 Maths Chapter 8 Notes & NCERT PDF

Class 3MathematicsChapter 8NCERT book: Maths Mela - Class 3

Notes and a simple summary of Chapter 8 of the NCERT Class 3 Mathematics book, with the official chapter PDF, flashcards, an MCQ quiz and an AI tutor for your doubts.

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Chapter 8: Fair Share

Introduction

Fair Share begins at lunch time. Shabnam and Mukta want to share a chocolate and a paratha, and Mukta complains, "It is not fair! You gave me a bigger part!" The chapter uses this everyday moment to introduce the idea of sharing a whole into equal parts, and the words half and quarter. The book asks teachers to say "one half" and "one quarter", not "1 out of 2" or "1 out of 4".

What's in this Chapter

Sharing a paratha: Shabnam folds the paratha over itself to check if both pieces are the same. The book explains: "When 1 whole is shared equally between 2 people, each share is called a half!" Two halves make one whole.

Showing halves: children circle shapes where half is coloured, draw a line to show one half, and complete a picture by drawing its other half. A chikki eaten from different sides asks whether what is left is less than half, more than half or exactly half.

Paper folding: fold a rectangular sheet and a square sheet in half in as many different ways as possible.

The story of Amit and Bala: an old man gives his two sons a mango tree, a solar lamp and a woollen blanket. Cunning Amit keeps the fruits, the lamp at night and the blanket in winter, and gives Bala the tree, the lamp by day and the blanket in summer. Children discuss: Is this a fair way of sharing?

Half and double: with marbles, "3 is half of 6. 6 is double of 3." Children fill blanks such as "4 marbles are half of 8 marbles" and "10 marbles are double of 5 marbles", and use a number line to find how far 13 is from the double of 7.

Guess who am I?: clue puzzles such as "I have less than the double of 3 marbles. I have more than the half of 8 marbles" (answer: 5 marbles).

Quarters: "When a whole is shared equally among 4 people, each share is called a quarter." Four quarters make a whole; two quarters make a half.

Half or quarter?: colouring birds and tying flowers (Lakshanya and Peehu each have 16 flowers) to compare half, a quarter and double.

Quarters and whole: 1 quarter, 2 quarters (half), 3 quarters, 4 quarters (complete whole), shown on shapes, grids and fraction cards.

Key Ideas

Parts are fair only when they are equal; folding one part over the other is a good check.

Half = one of 2 equal parts; quarter = one of 4 equal parts.

2 halves = 1 whole; 4 quarters = 1 whole; 2 quarters = 1 half.

Half and double are opposites: 3 is half of 6, and 6 is double of 3.

The same shape can be halved or quartered in many different ways.

Activities from the Book

Fold paper to make halves and quarters in different ways.

Share mangoes equally between two children.

Use the fraction cards at the back of the book to build one whole.

Colour shapes to show 1, 2, 3 and 4 quarters.

Words to Learn

Whole (पूरा) - the complete thing before it is cut

Equal (बराबर) - exactly the same size

Half (आधा) - one of two equal parts

Quarter (चौथाई) - one of four equal parts

Three-quarters (तीन-चौथाई) - three of four equal parts

Double (दुगना) - two times as many

Share (बाँटना) - to divide something among people

Fair (उचित) - equal and just for everyone

Fold (मोड़ना) - to bend paper over itself

Tips for Parents & Teachers

At meal times, ask your child to cut a roti, fruit or sandwich into halves and quarters and check by placing one piece over the other.

Play "half and double" with buttons or beans: "I have 5, you take double."

Retell the Amit and Bala story and ask what a fair sharing would look like.

Common Mistakes

Calling any two pieces "halves" even when one is bigger. Halves must be equal.

Thinking a quarter is bigger than a half because 4 is bigger than 2. A quarter is smaller: it is half of a half.

Mixing up half and double: 4 is half of 8, not double of 8.

💡 Key Learning Points

✓A whole shared equally between 2 people gives two halves; 2 halves make 1 whole.
✓A whole shared equally among 4 people gives four quarters; 4 quarters make 1 whole and 2 quarters make a half.
✓Fair sharing means equal parts, which can be checked by folding or placing one part over another.
✓Half and double are related: 3 is half of 6 and 6 is double of 3.
✓The same shape can be divided into halves or quarters in many different ways.

👨‍🏫 Teaching Tips

→Start with the lunch-break picture and let children argue about whether the sharing is fair before introducing the word 'half'.
→Use paper folding with rectangles and squares so children discover several different ways of making a half and a quarter.
→As the book advises, say 'one half' and 'one quarter', not '1 out of 2' or '1 out of 4'.
→Use real marbles or seeds for the half-and-double blanks before children write answers.
→Discuss the Amit and Bala story as a class and ask children to suggest a fair way of sharing.
→Let children superimpose pieces from the perforated fraction cards to prove that quarters are equal.
→Link 'half of a half' to quarter by folding a half once more.

📋 Assessment Questions

Can the child tick the paratha that has been cut into two equal halves and explain why?
Can the child draw a line to show one half and lines to show quarters of a shape?
Can the child complete sentences like '4 marbles are ___ of 8 marbles' using half or double?
Can the child colour 1, 2, 3 and 4 quarters of a shape and say that 2 quarters is a half?
Can the child explain whether Amit's way of sharing with Bala was fair?

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