3
Counting tools and number stories
Discover Term 2: Axis 4, Chapter 2
GoalName tools that help with numbers, and tell and write simple adding and taking-away stories.
New words
technology · tools that people made to help usnumber story · a story about adding or taking away
Explanation
People made tools to help with numbers. A counting frame, called an abacus, has beads that we slide to count. People have used counting frames for a very long time. A computer is a tool for numbers too. We call these things technology. A number story is about adding or taking away. Four birds sit on a wall. Five more come. Now there are nine. We write 4 + 5 = 9. Nine birds sit on a wall. Three fly away. Six are left. We write 9 − 3 = 6.
Worked examples
Adding story: 4 birds and 5 more birds. 4 + 5 = 9.
Taking-away story: 9 birds, and 3 fly away. 9 − 3 = 6.
A computer is technology because people made it. A tree is not technology.
Class activity
My counting frame: with a grown-up, put ten bottle tops in two rows of five. Use them to show a number story. Say it: “I had… then… now there are…”. Draw your story, write the number sentence, and show it to a friend with a clear voice.
Practice
1
Four apples and three more apples. How many altogether? Write the number sentence.
7 apples; 4 + 3 = 7.
2
There are ten balls. Six roll away. How many are left?
4 balls; 10 − 6 = 4.
3
Name two tools that help us with numbers.
For example: an abacus, a calculator or a computer.
4
Tell your own number story that ends with 6.
For example: 2 apples and 4 more make 6.