What is Place Value?
Hello Super Learners! Have you ever wondered why numbers are written the way they are? Why does the number 52 mean fifty-two and not something else? That’s because of place value!
Place value helps us understand what each digit in a number means depending on where it is. The position of a number tells you if it’s in the ones, tens, hundreds, or even thousands place!
Let’s Break it Down with an Example:
Imagine you have the number 345. Here’s what each digit represents:
- The 3 is in the hundreds place. That means 3 groups of 100, or 300.
- The 4 is in the tens place. That means 4 groups of 10, or 40.
- The 5 is in the ones place. That’s just 5.
When we add these values together, we get 300 + 40 + 5, which equals 345!
More Examples:
Let’s take another number, 208.
- The 2 is in the hundreds place, so it’s worth 200.
- The 0 is in the tens place, so it’s worth 0.
- The 8 is in the ones place, so it’s worth 8.
When we put this together: 200 + 0 + 8 = 208!
Remember, every time you move a number to the left, it gets 10 times bigger! That’s why 2 in the hundreds place is not the same as 2 in the tens place or ones place.
Table of Place Value for Thousands
| Number | Thousands | Hundreds | Tens | Ones |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,234 | 1,000 | 200 | 30 | 4 |
| 2,705 | 2,000 | 700 | 0 | 5 |
| 4,679 | 4,000 | 600 | 70 | 9 |
A Fun Way to Remember Place Value
Think of each place as a house. In the “ones” house, you can have only small things like single candies 🍬. In the “tens” house, things are a bit bigger, like bunches of balloons 🎈. When you get to the “hundreds” house, you start dealing with even bigger things, like cars 🚗. The further left you go, the bigger things get!
Practice with Place Value!
Now, let’s practice with some examples. Try to figure out the value of each digit in the number below:
6,472
- What is the value of the 6? (Answer: 6,000)
- What is the value of the 4? (Answer: 400)
- What is the value of the 7? (Answer: 70)
- What is the value of the 2? (Answer: 2)
Awesome! You’re getting the hang of it!
Time for an Interactive Activity!
We’re going to play a fun game to test your place value skills! Use the canvas below to match the correct number with its place value by dragging the number into the correct box. Let’s see how well you can do!
Interactive Place Value Quiz:
Here’s a fun activity! Match each number to its place value by dragging the correct emoji onto the boxes.