B1.2 Compare and order whole numbers up to and including 10 000, in various contexts.
Activity 1: Clothesline
Materials
- string
- cards
- clothespins
Prepare cards with numbers between 6000 and 7000. Also, prepare a card with the number 6000 and another with the number 7000.
Place a card indicating 6000 at the left end of the string and 7000 at the right end.
Ask students to look at their card (with a number between 6000 and 7000) and visualize where to place it on the clothesline between the numbers 6000 and 7000.
Then have them discuss it with a partner.
Afterwards, students hang their card with a clothespin, sharing their reasoning. Ask other students if they agree.
Activity 2: Forming Numbers with Cards
Materials
- deck of cards with numbers 1 to 9
- laminated open number line
- an erasable felt-tip pen
In pairs, students each create a 4-digit number by picking 4 cards from the deck.
Students read and compare their numbers.
They place a hatch mark on the number line to indicate where each of their numbers would be.
Each student thinks of a number that would fall between their two numbers.
The activity continues by repeating the steps… students pick four new cards, and so on.
Activity 3: Order with a card
Materials
- cards with numbers between 5000 and 10 000 (one per student)
Give each student a card. Ask them to stand in ascending order according to the card they have received.
Ask two students in the class to check and validate the ascending order of the numbers found on the cards.
Then ask these two students to turn around so that they cannot see what is happening behind them. Ask a few students to switch places so that the numbers are no longer in ascending order.
When finished, invite both students to turn around and find which students (number cards from 5000 to 10 000) are no longer in the correct order. Ask them to replace the cards so that the numbers are back in ascending order.