Try this!
My two sons know that because I am a math educator, I like to give them problems to solve every once in a while. Last year, when they were first and third graders, I drew a picture of a brownie that had been cut with a slice removed and asked them to decide how much had been eaten.
The darkened part shows what part of this brownie Jackie ate. How much of the brownie was eaten?
The son who was in third grade said it was an impossible amount, because the pieces were not all the same size and it therefore could not be “one out of three.” The first grader said the portion was half of a half. How surprising that the third grader, who had been in school longer, gave a non-sensical response!
So I am curious about what other children would do. I have heard other children describe that piece of brownie as “one third,” but I don’t know how widespread this kind of response is. Similarly, I’ve seen other children describe it as half of a half, and I wonder how common this more intuitive response is.
If you’re curious too, give this question to your own students and see how they respond. How many children say the amount is one third? half of a half? one fourth? an impossible amount?
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