Numbers 0-20: Comparing and Ordering

Free sample questions, a clear explanation, and 5 practice skills with an AI tutor that guides without giving the answer away.

Number Detectives: Who's the Biggest?

Hi, friend! Have you ever built a tower with blocks? Imagine you have two towers. One has 15 blocks, and the other has 11. Which tower is taller? The one with 15 blocks, of course! Comparing numbers is just like that. We are like detectives looking for clues to see which number is greater (bigger) and which is less (smaller).

The best clue is to look at the tens and ones. Let's take the number 14. If we build it with blocks, we use one ten-rod and four single cubes. Now let's look at 9. That's just nine single cubes. Since 14 has a ten-rod and 9 doesn't, we know that 14 is more than 9. Easy peasy!

Key Takeaway: The Hungry Alligator!

To write our comparisons, we use special symbols. Think of them as a hungry alligator's mouth. The alligator always wants to eat the bigger number!

> means "greater than". We write 14 > 9.
< means "less than". We write 9 < 14.
= means "equal to". We write 10 = 10.

Detective Mission: Order the Numbers!

Let's put these numbers in order from least to greatest: 12, 7, and 18. How do we do it? We use our tens and ones clues!

First, look at the tens place. The number 7 has zero tens. The numbers 12 and 18 both have one ten. A number with zero tens is always smaller than a number with one ten. So, 7 is the smallest and comes first!

Next, compare the others. Since 12 and 18 have the same number of tens, we look at their ones place. 12 has 2 ones, and 18 has 8 ones. Since 2 is less than 8, 12 comes next.

The final order from least to greatest is: 7, 12, 18. Mission complete! You are a number superstar!

Sample questions

1. Look at these two groups of apples. Group A has 7 apples. Group B has 9 apples. Which group has MORE apples?

○ Group A

✓ Group B

○ They have the same number

Answer: Group B — Count the apples in each group carefully. Which number is bigger?

2. You have two towers of blocks. Tower 1 has 1 ten block and 4 single blocks. Tower 2 has 1 ten block and 2 single blocks. Which tower has FEWER blocks?

○ Tower 1 (14 blocks)

○ They have the same number

✓ Tower 2 (12 blocks)

Answer: Tower 2 (12 blocks) — Count all the blocks in Tower 1 and then in Tower 2. Which number is smaller?

3. Imagine you have three piles of counters: Pile A has 6 counters, Pile B has 11 counters, and Pile C has 4 counters. If you put them in order from SMALLEST number to GREATEST number, what would it be?

✓ 4, 6, 11

○ 11, 6, 4

○ 6, 4, 11

Answer: 4, 6, 11 — Find the smallest number first, then the next smallest, and finally the biggest.

Skills in this topic

Compare two numbers within 20 using concrete objects (e.g., base ten blocks).
Use 'more than,' 'less than,' and 'equal to' to describe comparisons of numbers within 20.
Order a set of three numbers (0-20) from least to greatest and greatest to least.
Use the symbols <, >, and = to compare two numbers within 20.
Justify the order of numbers 12, 7, and 18 from least to greatest, explaining your reasoning based on tens and ones.

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