Ordering Numbers

Welcome to the Great Math Competition! The team that can put numbers two hundred sixty-four, five hundred twenty-one, and nine hundred seventeen in order is the winner! Bianca and Rick’s team are using an open number line to help them. An open number line is numbered using any range of numbers. With it, they can count by any number. A number line is read like a book — from left to right. The numbers are shown and read from least to greatest. It’s time for Bianca and Rick to plot those numbers! First, find the smallest number by comparing numbers. When we compare, we explain how something is the same or different. Look at the hundreds place of 264, 521, and 917. The 2 in 264 is the smallest number. Place the smallest number on the left of the open number line. Plot it with a tick mark and add a green dot on the tick mark to show where the number line begins. Next, search for the largest number. Compare the hundreds place of 521 and 917. 9 is larger, so 917 is the largest number. Plot 917 with a tick mark on the right side of the open number line. Then add a red dot on the tick mark to show where the number line ends. Finally, plot the last number. Add a tick mark between the smallest and largest numbers. Put 521 on that tick mark. Now for the final challenge. What if the first numbers are the same, like the hundreds in 254 and 216? Bianca and Rick must compare the tens place. One is less than 5, so the number 216 would be the smallest number and placed on the left. Four hundred twenty-two is the largest number and placed on the right. Plot two hundred fifty-four in the middle. Congratulations! Bianca and Rick’s team won this round of the competition!