The fun begins when students practice two ways to express these numbers. First, they fill in the missing figures to display the numbers in an expanded form. Then, they rewrite these numbers in expanded form, but this time using words instead of figures. This practice not only enhances their understanding of place values but also boosts their numeracy skills! This exercise is designed to gradually increase in complexity, challenging students to step up their game.

Understanding place value is fundamental in learning arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It also builds a foundation for understanding decimals and fractions in the future.

The example to expand the number 492 is given. We break it down into its parts. The number 492 has three digits: the 4 is in the hundreds place, the 9 is in the tens place, and the 2 is in the ones place. So, we can think of 492 as 4 hundreds, 9 tens, and 2 ones. This means 492 is the same as 400 (which is 4 hundreds), plus 90 (which is 9 tens), plus 2 (which is 2 ones).