step 1 of 6
You have already bundled ten tens into one hundred. Omar's shop packs pretzels the same way: a box holds 100, a bag holds 10, and loose ones sit in the tray. Today the sign says 485.
Look at the first digit of 485. What does the 4 count?
The three digits of a three-digit number
Understand that the three digits of a three-digit number represent amounts of hundreds, tens, and ones
What a learner can do afterwards
- State the value of each digit in a three-digit number (e.g. in 362, the 3 represents 3 hundreds)
- Partition a three-digit number into hundreds, tens, and ones (e.g. 485 = 400 + 80 + 5)
- Explain why 706 has 7 hundreds, 0 tens, and 6 ones
1 · Read
You already know that ten tens bundle into one hundred. Bigger numbers like 362 are built from hundreds, tens, and ones, and each digit has a job. The first digit tells you the hundreds. The middle digit tells you the tens. The last digit tells you the ones.
Try it together
Look at 485. The 4 is in the hundreds spot, so it means 4 hundreds. The 8 is in the tens spot, so it means 8 tens. The 5 is in the ones spot, so it means 5 ones. Put them together: 400 + 80 + 5 = 485.
Do not just read the digits like separate words. Read a three-digit number by its spots: hundreds first, then tens, then ones. In 706, the 0 is in the tens spot, so there are 0 tens, but the 6 is still 6 ones.
Every three-digit number has three jobs: first digit is hundreds, middle is tens, last is ones.
2 · Watch
3 · Play
Take it off screen
Print a worksheetA4 with an answer key page for grown-ups. No screen, no internet.
Where it sits
This opens up
Place Value to 1000Representing NumbersMentally adding tens to 3-digit numbersOrdering Numbers to 1000Written Multiplication & DivisionAddition and subtraction within 1000Using structure in numbers and shapesMultiplying by Tens10 or 100 More or LessPlace value of each digitMentally adding and subtracting ones with 3-digit numbersReading and writing numbers to 1000Mentally adding hundreds to 3-digit numbersAddition and subtraction strategies (age 7+)
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
Then practise
18 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.