Max Maths, Year 6, Learn together, Multiplying by a 1-digit number (3)

In an exercise from Max Maths for Year 6, students are tasked with multiplying a four-digit number by a single-digit number, specifically 1,869 by 6. To begin, they are encouraged to find an estimate to gauge what the answer might be close to. By rounding 1,869 to the nearest thousand, they get 2,000. Multiplying 2,000 by 6 gives an estimate of 12,000, setting the expectation that the actual answer will be in the vicinity of this number.

The multiplication is then carried out step-by-step, starting with the ones place and moving through to the thousands. Each step involves multiplying the digit by 6 and adding any carry-over from the previous calculation. For instance, multiplying 9 (ones) by 6 gives 54; the 4 is written down and the 5 is carried to the tens column. This process is repeated for the tens, hundreds, and thousands columns, with each multiplication followed by adding the carried number. After completing all four steps, the final answer is determined to be 11,214, which indeed is close to the initially estimated 12,000. This methodical approach helps students understand the process of long multiplication and the importance of place value and carrying over in multi-digit calculations.