Growth Point 4
Place Value Growth Points activities
The tasks listed on the following pages are rich tasks from various sources that may be used with multi-level groups or students who are working at a particular level.
4. Reading, writing, interpreting and ordering beyond 1000
Can read, write, interpret and order beyond 1000.
Rearrange the digits
Materials: 10-sided dice, MAB or PV abacus.
Activity: Students roll their dice four times to create a four-digit number. How many different numbers can you create using these digits? Students use the MAB or PV abacus to model each of their numbers. What is the same about these numbers? What is different? Students record each of their numbers and state what 10 more or less, 100 more or less and 1000 more or less is for each.
Related key ideas: Quantity, digit position, base-10 system.
Riddle me this
Materials: Who am I cards?, place value materials.
Activity: For each of the cards, read out the clues and ask students to model the clues using the place value materials and guessing each number. Students record the number they have made using words, pictures and numbers.
Related key ideas: Quantity, digit position, base-10 system, place-value partitioning, number triad.
Spin to win
Materials: Number cards, spinner.
Activity: Deal the number cards equally into 2 piles. Each player (or team) turns over a card. One person spins the spinner. The player (or team) whose card is closest to the benchmark on the spinner wins the round. The player (or team) with the highest points at the end of the games wins.
Related key ideas: Quantity, comparison.
Variation: Use the benchmarks on the spinner to create a number line then choose the 5 highest/lowest cards and order them on the line.
Ordering calculators
Materials: Calculator.
Activity: Each student enters a four-digit number on their calculator. In small groups, ask them to look at their numbers and order themselves from the smallest to the largest number displayed. Ask groups to combine and create a larger group to repeat the process. Continue to do this until you have ordered the whole class. Ask, ‘What do you notice about the numbers (range)?’ ‘What is the smallest/largest number you can make?’ ‘What would be the number that marks half-way between these numbers?’.
Related key ideas: Quantity, digit position.
Variation: Students record the class numbers on a number line, displaying all of the relevant benchmarks. Prompt the students to pay close attention to the spacing of numbers and the benchmarks.
Mastermind
Materials: Place value chart.
Activity: Explain to students that you have a secret four-digit number in your head. Students take turns to guess your number and the teacher records the number on the place value chart. If the digit is correct but in the wrong value position, the teacher places a small ‘o’ in the corner. If the digit is not in your number, place a small ‘x’ in the corner. If the student has guessed the correct digit in the correct position, the teacher places a small tick in the corner. Students continue to take guesses until all four digits are revealed. Students can also place this game in pairs or small groups.
Related key ideas: Digit position, base-10 system, place-value partitioning.
Dice maths
Materials: Dice, calculator.
Activity: In pairs, students roll two four-digit numbers using a dice. Students decide which of their two numbers is the greatest and using the calculator, subtract the smaller number from this to find the difference (e.g. 9842 – 6733 = 3109). The student with the smallest difference scores one point, and the activity is repeated with another telephone number. The first student to score five points wins.
Related key ideas: Quantity.
Variation: Student with the greatest difference wins.
Find me a number
Materials: Worksheet (optional).
Activity: This activity can be completed on the worksheet (Appendix 34), or as a whole-class oral discussion, or with instructions simply written on the whiteboard. Students use the ‘clues’ given to find a four-digit number which meets the set criteria. The openness of this task allows for students to find many solutions.
Related key ideas: Digit position, place-value partitioning, quantity.
Variation: Students could be asked to find the number of possible solutions that exist for each question.
Dice numbers
Materials: Four dice.
Activity: Students throw four dice and use the numbers to make as many different four-digit numbers as they can. Students are asked to make:
• an even number
• an odd number
• the largest possible number
• the smallest possible number
Students can order their numbers from largest to smallest. Partner to check for accuracy.
Related key ideas: Digit position, quantity.
Calculate to zero
Materials: One calculator per student, one die, paper to record subtractions.
Activity: This activity is played as a game with the aim being to get as close to zero as possible, without going into negative numbers. Each student enters a four-digit number into their calculator. Student One then rolls the dice. When they have seen their roll, Student One must nominate whether they will subtract this from the ones, tens, hundreds or thousands column (may only nominate each column once) on their calculator, remembering that they cannot subtract more than they already have in that column. If the rolled number is too large to subtract from any column, play passes to the other student, and the student tries again on the next roll.
For example, enter number 8469 on the calculator. Roll 5 on dice. Unable to subtract 500 (because less than 5 in hundreds column), but could nominate to subtract 5000, 50 or 5. Opt to subtract 50, calculator now reads 8419. Play moves to Student Two.
On the next turn, Student One rolls 2. Unable to subtract 20, because have already ‘used’ subtraction in the tens column, must subtract 2000, 200 or 2. Opt to subtract 2, calculator now reads 8417. Play moves to Student Two.
On the next two turns, Student One can only subtract from thousands or hundreds columns, to come to the final result.
Winner is the player closest to zero, after four rolls. See worked example to the right.
Related key ideas: Digit position, place-value partitioning, quantity.
Four card numbers
Materials: Set of ten cards, numbered 0 to 9
Activity: The aim of this activity is to make the largest four-digit number possible. Each student is dealt four cards face-down, with the remaining two cards left face-down in the centre. Without allowing your partner to see your own cards, arrange them to make the largest four-digit number possible, but keep them face-down. Students must trade one of their own cards for one of the cards face-down in the centre, and it must be used to replace the discarded number. After this initial trade, taking alternate turns in each round, one player must also ‘swap’ one of their cards for the corresponding card of their partners. For instance, Student A could swap their hundreds card for the hundreds card of their partner. The cards are then turned over and compared, and the student with the highest number scores one point for that round. The cards are then shuffled and play continues. In the next round, the other player must select which card to swap with their partner. Play continues for a set period of time, or until one player reaches a total score of 10.
Related key ideas: Digit position, quantity.
Variation: Make the lowest number possible.