Ones, tens and hundreds

Hello, and welcome to Myriora Maths! Here's a number: three hundred and forty-seven. But what does it really mean? Let's find out!

First, why does this matter? Imagine a sweet shop with three hundred and forty-seven sweets. Counting them one by one would take ages! So the shopkeeper packs them. Ten sweets go in a bag. Ten bags go in a box. Now it's easy: three boxes, four bags, and seven loose sweets. That's exactly how hundreds, tens and ones work.

Let's start small. Here is one cube. Two, three, four, all the way up to nine. Nine single cubes. We call these ones.

Now watch what happens when we add one more. Ten cubes! Ten ones are a lot to count, so we join them into a rod. One rod is one ten.

Rods are quick to count. One ten, two tens, three tens, four tens. Four tens make forty.

And when we have ten rods? We put them together to make a square. Ten tens make one hundred.

Now let's build three hundred and forty-seven. Three hundreds. Four tens. Seven ones. Each digit tells us how many. And the place where it sits tells us what it's worth.

Let's try one together. Here are two hundreds, three tens, and six ones. What number is it? Say your answer out loud!

Two hundreds, three tens, and six ones make two hundred and thirty-six. Well done if you said two hundred and thirty-six!

Here's something clever. In three hundred and thirty-three, every digit is a three. But they're not all worth the same! The first three is three hundreds: three hundred. The next three is three tens: thirty. And the last three is just three ones: three. The place decides what a digit is worth.

Here's a question that catches lots of people. How do you write three hundred and seven? Some people write a three and a seven. But that says thirty-seven! There are no tens, so we put a zero in the tens place to hold it. Three, zero, seven.

Your turn! What number do these blocks make? Pick the right card. You've got fifteen seconds, or pause the video. Go!

Time's up! Two hundreds, five tens, and one one. That's two hundred and fifty-one!

Quick review. Ten ones make a ten. Ten tens make a hundred. And the place decides what a digit is worth. See you next time!