Recognize that in a multi-digit whole number, a digit in one place represents ten times what it represents in the place to its right. For example, recognize that 700 ÷ 70 = 10 by applying concepts of place value and division.
Official wording from the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (© 2010 National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers). View on thecorestandards.org
In our base-ten system, moving one place to the left multiplies a digit's value by ten. The 3 in 300 is worth 10 times the 3 in 30, and that 3 is worth 10 times the 3 in 3. Third graders worked with numbers to 1,000; fourth graders extend the pattern to any multi-digit whole number and state the relationship in general terms.
Students show the idea with base-ten blocks (ten rods make a flat, ten flats make a big cube), with place value charts, and with multiplication and division. For example, 700 ÷ 70 = 10 because 7 hundreds is ten times as much as 7 tens. Knowing this lets students reason that 4,000 is 10 times 400 and that 60 is one tenth of 600 without long calculations. The same ten-times structure later explains decimals in fifth grade, where each place to the right is one tenth of the place before it.
Some students say the hundreds place is one more than the tens place. Build 10 tens into a hundred with blocks so the relationship is seen as ten times, not plus one.
Students who only know "add a zero" cannot explain why it works and later misapply it to decimals. Describe it as every digit moving one place to the left.
Asked how the 6 in 6,000 compares with the 6 in 600, a student may say they are the same because both are 6. The place, not the digit, sets the value.
In the number 4,440, how many times greater is the value of the 4 in the thousands place than the 4 in the tens place?
Answer: The 4 in the thousands place is worth 100 times as much as the 4 in the tens place.
Start with a single digit on a place value chart and physically slide it one column left, saying the new value aloud. Repeat with division by sliding right. Students who can narrate the slide rarely need the "add a zero" shortcut.
Assessment items often show two numbers with the same digit underlined and ask for the relationship, or pose 900 ÷ 90 style questions. Asking students to write a sentence such as "The 7 in 7,300 is ten times the 7 in 730" builds the precise language tests reward.
Original questions written for this standard. Choose an option or type your answer, then press Check. Every question has a worked explanation.
Answer: C) It is 10 times as much
5,000 is one place to the left of 500, so the 5 is worth 10 times as much: 500 × 10 = 5,000.
Answer: 10
7 hundreds is ten times 7 tens, so 700 ÷ 70 = 10.
Answer: 800
The 8 is in the hundreds place, so it is worth 8 × 100 = 800.
Answer: D) 10
The hundreds 6 is worth 600 and the tens 6 is worth 60. 600 ÷ 60 = 10.
Answer: 10 (also accepted: ten)
3,000 is one place to the left of 300, so it is 10 times as much.
Answer: B) 8,200
The 2 in 1,524 is worth 20. Ten times that is 200, and only 8,200 has a 2 worth 200.
Understand that the three digits of a three-digit number represent amounts of hundreds, tens, and ones; e.g., 706 equals 7 hundreds, 0 tens, and 6 ones. Understand the following as special cases:
A full lesson with slides, activities and an exit ticket on place value: each place is ten times the next, pitched to grade 4 and editable in PowerPoint or Google Slides.
Make a lesson →A printable, differentiated worksheet on 4.NBT.A.1 with an answer key, ready in about a minute.
Make a worksheet →Turn place value: each place is ten times the next into a quiz students answer online that marks itself, with a class summary for you.
Build a test →Because each place is worth ten times the place to its right. Ten ones make a ten, ten tens make a hundred, and so on.
In fifth grade (5.NBT.A.1) the same idea runs both ways: a digit is worth ten times the place to its right and one tenth of the place to its left, which extends place value past the decimal point.