2
Greater, less and fewer
Learner’s Book 1: Unit 9, pp. 126–129
GoalCompare two numbers up to 20 and say which is greater and which is less.
New words
greater · bigger, further along the number lineless · smaller, nearer to 0fewer · a smaller number of thingsmore · a bigger number of things
Explanation
We can compare numbers to see which is bigger. Look at the number line. Numbers that are further along are greater. 17 is further along than 14, so 17 is greater than 14. 14 is nearer to 0, so 14 is less than 17. When we compare sets of things, we say more or fewer. There are more in the set with the greater number. There are fewer in the set with the smaller number.
Worked examples
Kenji has 14 shells and Lola has 17 shells. Find both numbers on the number line above. 17 is further along, so Lola has more shells. 14 is less than 17, so Kenji has fewer.
There are 10 apples and 12 birds. 10 is less than 12. There are fewer apples than birds.
There are 9 cups and 7 children. 9 is greater than 7, so every child can have a cup.
Class activity
Number line jump: draw a number line from 0 to 20 on the floor with chalk or paper, or on a long strip. Your partner chooses two numbers. Stand on each one. Which one is further along? Say ‘… is greater than …’.
Practice
1
Which number is greater, 12 or 17?
17
2
Which number is less, 18 or 13?
13
3
Are there more cars or balls?
balls (14 is greater than 11)
4
Write less or greater: 12 is ___ than 20.
less