Maths 7-11 years
Explaining numbers to children
It is important that pupils have a clear understanding of numbers and how to use them. Younger children start establishing a clear understanding of units then they gradually progress to Tens. Visual aids such as conkers, beads, blocks or sometimes fingers can help establish the number concept
As our number system is worked in BASE 10 each number has a place value. This means that its value depends on its position. In arithmetic the positions or columns are given names. This shows for example the number 965.
| Th | H | T | U |
| (Thousands) | (Hundreds) | (Tens) | (Units) |
| 9 | 6 | 5 |
For the number 9 6 5 we have:
U = 5 units
T = 6 groups of 10 = 60
H = 9 groups of 100 = 900
In these number examples the figures underlined have the following values:
3789 3 is 3000 (three thousand)
40327 40 is 40000 (forty thousand)
65891 8 is 800 (eight hundred)
An even number is a number which can be exactly divided by 2 e.g 2 4 6 8 10.
All other numbers are odd numbers e.g 1 3 5 7 9 11.
A prime number is a number which can only be divided exactly by itself and by one. All prime numbers are odd numbers apart from 2. 1 is not a prime number 5 7 11 13 29 and 53 are examples of prime numbers.
Square numbers are numbers whose dots can be arranged in the shape of a square. e.g. 16
