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Lesson · Grade 6 · Mathematics

Least Common Multiple with a Venn Diagram

  • Grade 6
  • Mathematics
  • 1 min 22 s
  • British Columbia
  • BC6-MA-11

Students skip count by 4 and by 6 up to 24, then sort the multiples into a Venn diagram, with 12 and 24 in the middle where the circles overlap. The smallest number in the middle, 12, is the least common multiple of 4 and 6, checked as 4 × 3 = 12 and 6 × 2 = 12.

Concept: Least common multiple

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In one sentence

The question this lesson answers

What is the least common multiple of 4 and 6?

Skip count by 4 to list the multiples of 4, up to 24: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24.

Transcript

What the lesson says

What is the least common multiple of 4 and 6?

Skip count by 4 to list the multiples of 4, up to 24: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24.

Then skip count by 6, up to 24: 6, 12, 18, 24.

Now sort these multiples into a Venn diagram, with one circle for each number.

12 and 24 are in both lists, so they go in the middle, where the circles overlap.

4, 8, 16 and 20 are multiples of 4 but not of 6, so they go on the left.

6 and 18 are multiples of 6 but not of 4, so they go on the right.

The numbers in the middle, 12 and 24, are common multiples of 4 and 6.

The smallest number in the middle is 12.

So the least common multiple, or LCM, of 4 and 6 is 12.

Check: 4 times 3 is 12, and 6 times 2 is 12.

The least common multiple is the smallest number that is in both lists of multiples.

Curriculum

Where this fits

British Columbia, Grade 6

Mathematics, Number: factors and multiples: greatest common factor and least common multipleBC6-MA-11

Previous: Greatest Common Factor with a Venn DiagramNext: Improper Fractions and Mixed Numbers: 7/4 = 1 3/4

The outcomes and strands follow the British Columbia curriculum.

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