lesson
Updated 6 days ago · 2 views
Imagine opening a giant treasure chest filled with 1,000 shiny golden coins.
Counting them one by one would take forever, but special counting blocks make it super fast!
Meet the Base 10 Blocks
We use four special shapes to build any four-digit number: tiny unit cubes, long rods, flat squares, and giant cubes.
📊Interactive diagram
Every time you collect 10 of one block, they snap together to make the next bigger block!
How do we organize all these blocks so we can read the total number in a flash?
The Place Value Chart
A place value chart gives each type of block its very own column, lined up from largest on the left to smallest on the right.
Let's build the number 3,425 using our blocks and place them in the chart.
📊Interactive diagram
The digit tells you how many blocks you have, while the place value tells you how much they are actually worth.
In 3,425, the digit 3 is in the thousands place, so its value is 3,000.