The purpose of the discussion is for students to share strategies for rewriting fractions. For each part, select a group to share their solution. Ask if any groups got a different answer.

Ask students,

• “Why is equivalent to the third part of the first question, ?” (The product can be written first as , then both the numerator and the denominator can be reduced by a factor of 2, to get .)
• “What strategy did you use to write 1 and 3-fifths as a product of a whole number and a fraction with a numerator of 1?” (First, we rewrote it as a single fraction rather than as a whole part and a fractional part. We did this by adding 5-fifths to 3-fifths to get 8-fifths. Then, the fraction was similar to the other parts, so we wrote it as 8 times 1-fifth.)

In this activity, students rewrite values with non-unit fractional exponents as equivalent values using roots with powers. For this exercise, students do not need to reduce any fractions or rationalize any of the roots, but make note of any students who do so, and ask them to share during the discussion.

Throughout this unit, it is assumed that the base of any exponent or the argument inside a root is positive. For students who are curious about negative values, have them explore the Are You Ready for More? questions.