Summary Cont.
Unit Fraction
Knowledge and
the French Fry
Task
Summary
This article begins by discussing that
students when starting with unit
fractions often have the
misconception that the denominator
does not mean that all pieces are
equal, but just the number of pieces.
This is why the author developed the
French Fry Task. This task is designed
so that students can grasp that
fraction denominators are how many
equal pieces are in a whole. This task
also helps student develop the sense
that the bigger the denominator the
smaller the piece.
In the French Fry Task students are
given a piece of yellow paper that
looks like a French Fry. The students
are then asked to share this Fry with 2
friends, then 3, then 4 and so on.
When starting off with the task the
Take Away
author notes to make sure that
students understand that ½ is two
Below is a graphic of how to
complete the task in your classroom.
equal parts, and to ask students to
explain this. One acceptable
I have also brought some French
Fries to show you visually how this
explanation may be “I know this is ½ works. The graphic below is an exact
because if I cut up both pieces they copy from the article.
would be equal to each other.” The
article includes teacher talks and
expected student answers throughout
the task, and possible extensions. In all
this article has a researched task that Citation
helps students understand unit
Szur, R., & Hunt, J. (2015). Unit
fractions better.
fraction knowledge and the
french fry. Teaching Children
Mathematics, 22 (3), 148-157
Citation