Equal Sharing & Grouping
Equal sharing means dividing a total into groups so that EVERYONE gets the SAME amount. To solve these, think: 'How many does each person get if we share fairly?' You can work it out by dealing one at a time (like dealing cards) until everything is shared out.
Worked examples
4 stickers are shared equally among 2 friends. How many does each friend get?
Step 1 — Total: 4 stickers. Groups: 2 friends. Step 2 — Deal one at a time: Friend 1 gets 1, Friend 2 gets 1. Friend 1 gets 1, Friend 2 gets 1. Step 3 — Count each person's share: 1 + 1 = 2 each. Answer: 2 stickers each. Check: 2 + 2 = 4 ✓
Answer: 2
6 stickers are shared equally among 3 friends. How many does each friend get?
Step 1 — Total: 6. Groups: 3. Step 2 — Deal: give 1 to each friend (3 dealt, 3 left). Give 1 more to each friend (3 dealt, 0 left). Step 3 — Each friend got 2. Answer: 2. Check: 2 + 2 + 2 = 6 ✓
Answer: 2
10 stickers are shared equally among 2 friends. How many does each friend get?
Step 1 — Total: 10. Groups: 2. Step 2 — Deal out: 1, 1 → 1, 1 → 1, 1 → 1, 1 → 1, 1. That's 5 rounds. Step 3 — Each friend gets 5. Answer: 5. Check: 5 + 5 = 10 ✓
Answer: 5
8 stickers are shared equally among 4 friends. How many does each friend get?
Step 1 — Total: 8. Groups: 4. Step 2 — Think: if everyone gets 1, that's 4 used (4 left). If everyone gets 1 more, that's 4 more used (0 left). Step 3 — 1 + 1 = 2 each. Answer: 2. Check: 2 × 4 = 8 ✓
Answer: 2
15 stickers are shared equally among 5 friends. How many does each friend get?
Step 1 — Total: 15. Groups: 5. Step 2 — Deal one round: 5 used, 10 left. Deal another round: 5 more used, 5 left. Deal one more round: 5 more used, 0 left. Step 3 — 3 rounds × 1 each = 3 each. Answer: 3. Check: 3 × 5 = 15 ✓
Answer: 3
Tips
- •Equal sharing = division. Everyone gets the SAME amount.
- •Deal one at a time (like playing cards) to make sharing fair.
- •Check your answer: multiply each share by the number of friends. You should get the total.
- •If there are leftovers that can't be shared equally, they are called the 'remainder'.
- •Foundation sharing uses small, even numbers — no remainders!