Decimal - Understanding Thousandths - Starter

In a mathematics lesson focused on understanding thousandths, Year 6 students tackle a series of exercises to sharpen their fluency with decimals. The lesson begins with a subtraction problem involving large numbers, where students must calculate the result of subtracting 735 from 9,321, which equals 8,586. They also tackle a problem where 609 is subtracted from 9,103, resulting in 8,494. These exercises serve as a warm-up, preparing students for the more intricate work with decimals that follows.

Subsequent tasks require students to fill in missing numbers to complete decimal equations. For instance, they are presented with the equation 0.57 = _____ + 0.07 and must identify that the missing number is 0.5, which equates to 5 tenths and 7 hundredths. Another equation, 0.33 = 0.2 + _____, challenges students to find that the missing number is 0.13, equivalent to 2 tenths and 13 hundredths. Further exercises involve subtraction with multi-digit numbers, where students have to find the missing digits in a sequence. Lastly, students compare decimals to understand the value of each place, such as tenths, hundredths, and thousandths, and they practice dividing decimals by 10, turning 57.96 into 5.796. Through these activities, students develop a deeper comprehension of decimal numbers and their place values.