Place
V alue
What
i s
i t?
Place
v alue
r efers
t o
a n
a spect
o f
o ur
b ase
t en
n umber
s ystem
t hat
l ooks
a t
t he
v alue
o f
digits
w ithin
a
n umeral,
b ased
o n
t heir
p lace.
O ur
w hole
n umbers
i ncrease
i n
v alue
f rom
right
t o
l eft,
w ith
e ach
p lace
w orth
t en
t imes
m ore
t han
t he
p lace
t o
i ts
r ight.
W e
u se
t he
numerical
t erms
o nes,
t ens,
h undreds,
t housands
a nd
b eyond
t o
n ame
n umerical
v alues.
Foundational
t o
o ur
p lace
v alue
s ystem
i s
t he
i dea
t hat
g roups/sets
o f
t en
c an
b e
counted
a nd
r epresented
a s
s ingle
e ntities.
• Digit:
A
d igit
i s
a
s ingle
s ymbol
u sed
t o
m ake
n umerals.
O ,
1 ,
2 ,
3 ,
4 ,
5 ,
6 ,
7 ,
8
a nd
9
are
t he
t en
d igits
w e
u se
t o
m ake
n umerals
• Numeral:
A
n umeral
i s
a
s ymbol
t hat
s tands
f or
a
n umber.
• Number:
A
n umber
i s
a
c ount
o r
m easurement
t hat
r epresents
a n
i dea
i n
o ur
mind
a bout
a
q uantity.
N umerals
a re
o ften
u sed
t o
r epresent
a
n umber.
• Place
V alue:
T he
t erm
p lace
v alue
r efers
t o
t he
v alue
a
d igit
h as
b ased
o n
t he
p lace
it
h as
w ithin
a
n umeral.
F or
e xample,
i n
t he
n umeral/number
4 83,
t he
d igit
8
h as
a
v alue
o f
8 0,
r epresenting
8
t ens.
• Base
T en:
O ur
n umber
s ystem
u tilizes
a
b ase
o f
t en,
a nd
t he
f ocus
i s
o n
s eeing
a nd
representing
q uantities
i n
g roups
o f
t en.
A lthough
o ur
b ase
t en
s ystem
i s
considered
a rbitrary,
m any
s cholars
b elieve
i t
d eveloped
b ecause
w e
h ave
t en
fingers.
Why
i s
i t
i mportant?
For
p rimary
s tudents,
i t
i s
i mportant
t hat
s tudents
u nderstand
t he
s tructure
o f
t he
p lace
value
s ystem,
f ocusing
o n
o nes,
t ens
a nd
h undreds.
T his
u nderstanding
i s
f oundational
to
w orking
w ith
g reater
n umbers
a s
w ell
a s
d ecimal
n umbers.
A
s trong
s ense
o f
n umber
and
p lace
v alue
c ontributes
t o
s trong
u se
o f
e stimation
a nd
c omputational
s trategies.
(Fuson,
1 990
&
o thers;
K amii,
1 986
&
o thers;
B aroody,
1 990;
C otter,
2 000;
R oss,
2 002)
Materials
t o
s upport
p lace
v alue
u nderstanding:
l oose
p arts,
g rouping
c ontainers,
Unifix
C ubes,
b ase
t en
b locks,
t en
f rames,
r ekenreks,
a bacuses,
h undred
c harts,
numberlines,
d igit
c ards,
p ockets
a nd
l ayered
n umber
c ards
o r
t ents
( for
e xpanded
notation).