Concept 5 of 6
Comparing & Ordering to 1000
Today's big idea
Line numbers up and read from the left; the first room that differs decides.
462 and 439 match in hundreds, so the tens (6 vs 3) decide.
How it works
👀 What's going on?
Which is bigger, 462 or 439? There is a quick way to tell.
💡 Here's the trick
Line the numbers up and read from the left. The first room where the digits differ decides the winner.
462 and 439 both have 4 hundreds. In the tens, 6 beats 3, so 462 is bigger.
✍️ Try it
Which is smaller, 517 or 571? Read from the left: tens 1 beats 7, so 517 is smaller.
⚠️ Watch out
Check how many digits first. 98 is smaller than 100, even though 9 is a big digit.
Watch me solve one
Quanta solves it
“Watch how I think through one of these — then you try.”
THE PROBLEM
“Put 253, 235 and 250 in order, smallest first.”
- 1
Compare the hundreds
All three have 2 hundreds, so look at the tens.
- 2
Compare the tens
Tens are 5, 3 and 5. The 3 is smallest, so 235 comes first.
- 3
Split the tie
250 and 253 both have 5 tens, so the ones decide: 0 before 3.
- 4
Answer ✓
235, 250, 253
Now you try one — same steps, different story 👇
See it in action
⚡ Time to play!
Compare one room at a time, left to right. Which is bigger in the HUNDREDS room?
Quick check
✅ VERIFICATION
Which is the greatest?
⚡ Finish the activity above first to answer.
Keep going!
Up next: Build the Biggest & Smallest
Sort the digits high-to-low or low-to-high.