Year 4 · Numbers to 10,000

Ordering and comparing numbers beyond 1000

Order and compare numbers beyond 1000

20 minutes4 checks6 exit questionsNational curriculum objective

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Order and compare numbers beyond 1000

Key learning points

• Start on the left
• Different lengths
• Putting a set in order
• Between and nearest

This lesson at a glance

20 minutes
19 parts to scroll through
4 quick checks
No marked quiz yet
Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

numbersbeyondlengthsputtingnearest

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 19 · Discover5%

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 19

Watch first

Ordering and comparing numbers beyond 1000

Watch how ones build into tens, hundreds, thousands and beyond.

Do it for real

The practicals below use what the film shows, with a full method you can follow at home.

How big is a thousand really?Guess the jar, then round it

In a nutshell

Order and compare numbers beyond 1000

What you already know

Part 2 of 19

Before we start

What you already know

You know the value of each digit in a four-digit number.

Recap: y4-maths-1

Key words

Part 3 of 19

Key words

Words you'll need today

ascending: Smallest first, going up.
descending: Largest first, going down.
greater than (>): The wide end of the sign faces the bigger number.

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 19

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 — Comparing two numbers

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 19

Learn

Start on the left

Compare 4,507 and 4,570. Thousands: both 4. Hundreds: both 5. Tens: 7 beats 0, so 4,570 is greater. Write 4,570 > 4,507. Once one column is different you can stop — nothing to the right can change the answer.

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 19

Learn

Different lengths

If one number has more digits, it is bigger: 12,004 has five digits, so it beats any four-digit number. Line numbers up by their right-hand end and the shorter one is obviously smaller.

Quick check

Part 7 of 19

Quick check

Which sign belongs here: 5,309 ? 5,390

Quick check

Part 8 of 19

Quick check

Which is the largest?

Reset break

Part 9 of 19

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 19

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 — Ordering a whole set

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 19

Learn

Putting a set in order

For 3,406, 3,064, 3,460, 3,046: all have 3 thousands, so sort by hundreds — 0, 0, 4, 4. The two with 0 hundreds go first, and the tens split them: 3,046 then 3,064, then 3,406 then 3,460.

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 19

Learn

Between and nearest

Questions often ask for a number between two others, or which of two a number is nearer to. 3,480 sits between 3,400 and 3,500, and it is nearer 3,500 because it is only 20 away rather than 80.

Quick check

Part 13 of 19

Quick check

Order smallest first: 2,410 / 2,041 / 2,140

Quick check

Part 14 of 19

Quick check

Which number is between 6,200 and 6,300?

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 19

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

Comparing the last digits instead of the biggest column.
Pointing the > sign at the smaller number.
Assuming a number with more digits after the comma must be bigger.

Challenge round

Part 16 of 19

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

Challenge round

Part 17 of 19

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

Line ____ up by their right-hand end and the shorter one is obviously smaller.

Mastery quiz

Part 18 of 19

No quiz for this one

This lesson has no marked quiz attached yet.

Lesson round-up

Part 19 of 19

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Article

The cost of a school trip

A school is planning a trip to a wildlife park. The coach costs £480 however many people go. Entry costs £9.50 for each pupil and each adult goes free. The school says every pupil must pay the same amount, and the trip must not lose money.

If 60 pupils go, the coach works out at £8 each, so the total for each pupil is £17.50. If only 40 pupils go, the coach works out at £12 each, so the price rises to £21.50. The teacher explains that the coach is a fixed cost and the entry is a cost per person — which is why the price per pupil changes when the number changes.

The school decides to charge £20 and to use anything left over for a second trip later in the year.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

Work out the total cost of the trip if 50 pupils go.
Show why the price per pupil falls when more pupils go, using numbers.
At £20 each, how many pupils must go before the trip makes money? Show your working.

Working out
Working out
Do the practice questions on paper, showing every step — not just the answer. Mark them yourself and circle anything you got wrong.
10–15 questions
Worked example, explained
Writing
Copy one question out and write underneath, in words, why each step works.
1 question, 4–5 sentences
Problem in words
Working out
Write your own real-life problem that uses today's method, then solve it.
1 problem + solution

Write your answer, notes or working here

Saved as you type.

Photos of paper work, diagrams or working outHow many minutes did the written work take?

Part 1 of 19 · Watch & discover

0 points

Back to your Year 4 units, or a few minutes of quick practice.

All Year 4 units Skills quest