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Plus Advent Calendar Door #4: Origami fractions

Can you fold a piece of paper in half? Of course you can, it's easy, you just match the two corners along one side. But can you fold it in thirds? You might be able to with a bit of fiddling and guessing, but what about fifths? Or sevenths? Or thirteenths? There is a simple way you can fold a piece of paper into any fraction you would like – exactly – no guessing or fiddling needed!

To find out how to do it, read Folding fractions.

This article was inspired by content on Wild Maths, which encourages students to explore maths beyond the classroom and is designed to nurture mathematical creativity. The site is aimed at 7 to 16 year-olds, but open to all. It provides games, investigations, stories and spaces to explore, where discoveries are to be made. Some have starting points, some a big question and others offer you a free space to investigate.

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