B1.2 Compare and order whole numbers up to and including 100 000, in various contexts.
Activity 1: Clothesline
Materials
- string to make a clothesline
- cards
- clothespins
Prepare cards with a variety of numbers between 60 000 and 70 000, enough for one per student. Also prepare a card with the number 60 000 and another with 70 000.
Place the 60 000 card at the left end of the string and the 70 000 card at the right end.
Distribute the other cards to the students and ask them to look at their card and visualize where to place it on the clothesline (string) between the numbers 60 000 and 70 000.
Then have them discuss it with a partner.
Afterwards, ask students to hang their card with a clothespin. Ask if everyone in in agreement of the order and work together to make any necessary adjustments.
Activity 2: Forming Numbers With Cards
Materials
- deck of cards with numbers 1 to 9
- laminated open number line
- erasable felt-tip pen
In pairs, students will each create a 5-digit number by picking five cards from the deck. They read and compare their numbers. Students place a hatch mark on the number line to indicate where each of their numbers would lie.
Each student thinks of a number that would fall between their two numbers.
The activity continues by repeating the steps: students draw five new cards, etc.
Activity 3: Ordering With a Card
Materials
- cards with numbers between 50 000 and 100 000 (enough for each student to receive one card)
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, have the two students turn around and identify which students (number cards from 50 000 to 100 000) are no longer in the correct order. Ask them to switch the cards so that the numbers are again in ascending order.