The number line: Young children\u27s knowledge of fractions and whole numbers

Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade students\u27 knowledge of fractions and whole numbers was tested using a number line consisting of whole circles. After a brief training session, students placed displays consisting of circles and pieces of circles on a number line. Kindergarten students did not complete the task correctly. First and second grade students performed better than kindergarten students; however, their performance was related to the training procedure they received. Training with a number line consisting of fractional quantities increased first and second grade students\u27 performance. The findings fail to support the belief that elementary students treat fractions as whole numbers. Instead, the findings provide tentative evidence that task related issues, such as the type of number line used during training, may underlie students\u27 performance on similar number line tasks