Skip to Main Content
PhET Home Page
University of Colorado
Created 7/7/19. Updates available online.

Proportion Playground

Proportion Playground Screenshot
  • Ratios
  • Proportional Reasoning
  • Unit Rate

Topics

  • Ratios
  • Proportional Reasoning
  • Unit Rate

Description

Play with ratios and proportions by designing a necklace, throwing paint balloons, playing billiards, or shopping for apples! Make predictions about proportions before they are revealed.

Sample Learning Goals

  • Use a ratio as a descriptive characteristic
  • Compare the meaning of a ratio in different contexts
  • Use scaling to build proportions or find a missing value in a proportion
  • Simplify ratios to build proportions or find a missing value in a proportion
  • Use multiplicative reasoning to solve problems

Standards Alignment

Common Core - Math

5.NF.B.4a
Interpret the product (a/b) × q as a parts of a partition of q into b equal parts; equivalently, as the result of a sequence of operations a × q ÷ b. For example, use a visual fraction model to show (2/3) × 4 = 8/3, and create a story context for this equation. Do the same with (2/3) × (4/5) = 8/15. (In general, (a/b) × (c/d) = ac/bd.)
 6.RP.A.1
Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities. For example, "The ratio of wings to beaks in the bird house at the zoo was 2:1, because for every 2 wings there was 1 beak." "For every vote candidate A received, candidate C received nearly three votes."
 6.RP.A.3
Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations.
 7.RP.A.2a
Decide whether two quantities are in a proportional relationship, e.g., by testing for equivalent ratios in a table or graphing on a coordinate plane and observing whether the graph is a straight line through the origin.
Version 1.0.9

Teacher Tips

Download teacher tips PDF Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking ( PDF ).

Teacher-Submitted Activities

Title Gold Star Contribution Contribution by PhET Authors Level Type Subject
Patterns and Ratios A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Ian Whitacre, Sebnem Tekin K-5
MS		 Guided Mathematics
Beaded Factors A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Heather Politi K-5
MS		 Guided Mathematics
Paint Splat: Comparing Ratios A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Kathyrn Studer, Heather Politi MS Guided Mathematics
Making Green Paint A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Michael Matassa MS Guided
Discuss		 Mathematics
Mixing paint with ratios This contribution was designed by PhET. Jennifer Knudsen, Teresa Lara-Meloy, Amanda McGarry MS Discuss Mathematics
CCSS Math Alignment with Sims This contribution was designed by PhET. Amanda McGarry K-5
MS
HS		 Other Mathematics
Unit Rate as Slope Cary Hoste HS
MS		 Guided
Other		 Mathematics

Share an Activity!

Language Download or Run Tips
Arabic All العربية Run now ملعب النسب
Basque All Basque Run now Proportzio-jolastokia
Bosnian All Bosanski Run now Igralište proporcije
Chinese (Simplified) All 中文 (中国) Run now 比例游乐场
Chinese (Traditional) All 中文 (台灣) Run now Proportion Playground_比例遊樂場
Croatian All hrvatski Run now Igralište proporcija
Danish All Dansk Run now Proportions-legeplads
Dutch All Nederlands Run now Spelen met verhoudingen
French All français Run now Aire de jeu proportionnelle
German All Deutsch Run now Proportionen Spiel
Greek All Ελληνικά Run now Παιχνίδια με αναλογίες
Hindi All हिंदी Run now समानुपात का मैदान 
Hungarian All magyar Run now Arányjáték
Italian All italiano Run now Area giochi Proporzioni
Japanese All 日本語 Run now 数と割合
Kazakh All Kazakh Run now «Пропорция» ойыны
Korean All 한국어 Run now 비율 놀이터
Latvian All Latviešu Run now Darbības ar proporcijām
Mongolian All Монгол (Монгол) Run now Хамаарлын Тоглоомын талбай
Polish All polski Run now Zabawa w proporcje
Portuguese (Brazil) All português (Brasil) Run now Parque da Proporção
Russian All русский Run now Игра «Пропорциональность»
Serbian All Српски Run now Игралиште пропорције
Spanish All español Run now Pista de juego de proporciones Download teacher tips PDF
Spanish (Mexico) All español (México) Run now Juego de Proporciones  Download teacher tips PDF
Spanish (Peru) All español (Perú) Run now Juegos de Proporciones
Swedish All svenska Run now Lek med proportioner!
Vietnamese All Tiếng Việt Run now Sân chơi tỷ lệ

The new HTML5 sims can run on iPads and Chromebooks, as well as PC, Mac, and Linux systems.

iPad:
iOS 11+ Safari
iPad compatible sims

Android:
Not officially supported. If you are using the HTML5 sims on Android, we recommend using the latest version of Google Chrome.

Chromebook:
Latest version of Google Chrome
The HTML5 and Flash PhET sims are supported on all Chromebooks.
Chromebook compatible sims

Windows Systems:
Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer 11, latest version of Firefox, latest version of Google Chrome.

Macintosh Systems:
macOS 10.9.5+, Safari 9+, latest version of Chrome.

Linux Systems:
Not officially supported. Please contact phethelp@colorado.edu with troubleshooting issues.

Design Team Third-party Libraries Thanks To
  • Amanda McGarry (lead designer)
  • Andrea Lin (development)
  • Sam Reid (development)
  • Jonathan Olson (development)
  • Karina K.R. Hensberry
  • Ariel Paul
  • Beth Stade
  • Ian Whitacre
  • almond-0.2.9.js
  • base64-js-1.2.0.js
  • FileSaver-b8054a2.js
  • font-awesome-4.5.0
  • game-up-camera-1.0.0.js
  • himalaya-0.2.7.js
  • jama-1.0.2
  • jquery-2.1.0.js
  • lodash-4.17.4.js
  • pegjs-0.7.0.js
  • seedrandom-2.4.2.js
  • text-2.0.12.js
  • TextEncoderLite-3c9f6f0.js
English
©2019 University of Colorado.
Some rights reserved.