Extends place value understanding from hundreds to millions and billions. Students explore how each place is ten times the value of the place to its right, read and write large numbers in standard, expanded, and word form, and compare and order numbers up to the billions place.
Upper Elementary • 3-5
You already know about ones, tens, and hundreds. Now we are going to explore numbers that reach into the millions and billions. These enormous numbers describe things like populations, distances in space, and government budgets.
Our number system follows one simple rule: each place is 10 times the value of the place to its right.
| Billions | Hundred Millions | Ten Millions | Millions | Hundred Thousands | Ten Thousands | Thousands | Hundreds | Tens | Ones |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000,000,000 | 100,000,000 | 10,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 100,000 | 10,000 | 1,000 | 100 | 10 | 1 |
Commas break numbers into groups of three digits called periods. Read each group, then say the period name: "45,238" is read "forty-five thousand, two hundred thirty-eight."
| Form | Example for 3,405,200 |
|---|---|
| Standard form | 3,405,200 |
| Word form | three million, four hundred five thousand, two hundred |
| Expanded form | 3,000,000 + 400,000 + 5,000 + 200 |
Read the number 72,514,308.
Write 6,032,007 in expanded form.
The strategy is the same as with small numbers: compare digits from left to right.
Which is greater: 4,583,210 or 4,589,100?
Do not confuse the digit with its value. In 5,000,000 the digit 5 has a value of five million, not five. Always check which place a digit sits in.
The population of New York City is about 8,300,000. The distance from Earth to the Moon is about 384,400 kilometers. The U.S. national debt is measured in trillions -- that is even beyond billions!
1. Write 2,508,040 in word form.
Two million, five hundred eight thousand, forty.
2. Write the number "nine hundred fifteen million, three hundred thousand, six" in standard form.
915,300,006
3. What is the value of the digit 7 in 47,321,000?
7 is in the millions place, so its value is 7,000,000 (seven million).
4. Order from least to greatest: 3,200,000 ; 3,020,000 ; 3,200,001
3,020,000 < 3,200,000 < 3,200,001. The first two differ in the hundred thousands place (0 vs 2), and the last two differ only in the ones place.
5. Write 8,060,300 in expanded form.
8,000,000 + 60,000 + 300