Name: Emily Greenberg

Student Number: 26005123

Subject: EDF1162 Subject knowledge for teaching: Number and Algebra
Tutorial/Tutor: Wednesday 3pm/Karina Wilkie

Section A: Historical and cultural nature of Place Value.

Over the past centuries, historical research has revealed that three cultures have
developed their own place value numeration system: the Mayans, the Babylonians and
the Hindu people of India, however, only the Mayan long-count system and the
Hindu-Arabic system hold great relevance today because of their creation of a
symbol and use for zero (Neugebauer, 1969). The Mayans, in fact, had developed
several symbols for zero and there is no genuine explanation that concedes why. It is
possible that it may have some relation to the fact that the Mayans used two types of
numerals: head variant glyphs (visual drawings that depict the head of a god, person
or animal used to represent a unit of time), and the dot-bar-shell number system (dots
or circles used to represent units, vertical or horizontal bars to represent fives and
shells used to signify zero). Therefore, in the Mayan base-twenty system, the number
20 would be denoted by one dot and one shell. This system, which was originally
created for calendar use, quickly developed into a fully functional system for
calculations. The orders of units in this system include individual days (kins), 20-day
months (ulnals) and 360-day calendar years (tuns) (McNeill, 2001). The Mayan longcount system formed the basis of what the Hindu-Arabic system is now established
as today (Van de Walle, Karp, & Bay-Williams, 2014). The original Hindu-Arabic
place value system was late of origin, unwieldy, rarely used and contained no symbol
for zero. Centuries later, however, the numeration system began to hold relevance in
the world and these days is recognised as the most commonly used place value system
across the world (Yadav, & Mohan, 2011). Within the Hindu-Arabic place value
numeration system and following the base-ten rule, the value of the numbers increase
in powers of ten from right to left and each place value position is a compression
place. For example, the tens column is worth ten ones, the hundreds column is worth
ten tens, the thousands column is worth ten hundreds and so on. The number ten is
the compression point within the Hindu-Arabic system as the digits roll over when
nine is reached and zero replaces nine for the next count up (Ross, 1989). This is
unlike the Mayan base-twenty system where compression occurs at 20 and thus, there
are 20 Mayan digits before change over (McNeill, 2001). According to the
multiplicative property (Ross, 1989), the value of a numeral is determined by
multiplying each digit by the value of its position and then adding the products. For
example, the value of 2,315 is given by 2 x 1,000 + 3 x 100 + 1 x 10 + 5 x 1.

Similarly, according to the additive property (Ross, 1989), the sum of each individual
digit will represent the quantity of the entire numeral. Other unique characteristics
which determine this system from possible others, is the relevance of order in which
the digits are written. For example, 12 is different from 21 and hence, the sequential
order of a number matters. In certain cultures such as within the Egyptian system, this
is not the case. Also, in the Hindu-Arabic system, a symbol for zero assists in
eliminating confusion about place value positions as zero allows us to distinguish
between 10, 100, 1,000, and so on (Smith, & Karpinsky, 2013). The next few
paragraphs will focus on the importance of the Hindu-Arabic place value system in
the learning and education of students across classrooms today.
Section B: Outline of an implementation of a problem-solving activity with a small
group of students.
To conduct this study, I located some learning resources related to the Hindu-Arabic
place value system to assist a small group of three grade three students in the learning
and comprehension of place value. The first learning resource of which I implemented
was called Place Value Bingo and focused on place value position. This task
involved asking all three students to write down six, four-digit numbers (essentially
between 1000 and 9,999) on a piece of paper. Next, as the instructor, I would say: if
you have a number with 7 hundreds, circle it. If you have a number with 4 units, circle
it, for example. A record was kept of the numbers asked. Eventually, when one of the
students had circled all of her numbers they were required to call out Bingo before
the games conclusion. The winner was then asked to read out her numbers and check
them against my own record. I found that this task was conducted and completed well.
All three students were engaged and very excited to be playing a game. One out of the
three students had no troubles and showed great understanding in determining the
position of place value for all of her six numbers. The other two students experienced
occasional difficulties over basic issues, which were resolved simply. Refer to
appendices 1-3 for evidence of the implementation of the learning activity.
The second problem solving activity focused on recording and expanding four-digit
numbers. This activity, which was inspired by Ross 1989, and his additive property,
allowed students to completely break down the number, which helped them to see the
smaller numbers that can be added together to make the one larger quantity. For

example, 1,693 can be broken down into one thousand, six hundreds, nine tens and
three ones, or, 1000 + 600 + 90 + 3. Within this activity, some students experienced
more difficulty than others. Common misconceptions will be discussed in detail in the
following paragraph; however, for more evidence on the activity, student responses
and teacher/student dialogue, refer to appendices 1-4.
Section C: Reflection.
My initial belief, prior to administering the activities on place value, was that these
three students would have quite a well-developed understanding of the place value
system. This belief was deemed only half true, as I had not considered the
misconceptions of which these students experienced. The first error that was evident
within the first activity was when the students were asked to colour their number if it
had two thousands in it. Student 2 did not colour her number 2,212 despite it
having two thousands. When asked why, she responded, Because this is twenty two
thousand, not two thousand. I then drew out a table outlining the ones, tens, hundreds
and thousands columns for her on the whiteboard and asked her to try again. Seconds
later she realised where she had gone wrong in her thought process and she then
corrected her own error. Only minutes later, student 1 made a very similar error and I
encouraged student 2 to take on the role of the teacher and explain to student 1 (using
the table that had been drawn out) where she might have gone wrong. This allowed
student 2 to take responsibility for explaining her ingrained knowledge to her friend.
Moreover, student 1 was able to relate to and understand student 2s interpretation,
since only minutes earlier it was her who did not make sense of the concept.
In the second activity, all three students had difficulty expanding the four-digit
numbers. Despite there being many incidences where this was apparent, the most
prominent example was when the students were asked to expand the number 2,200.
Student 1 wrote twenty-two thousands + zero tens + zero ones as her answer and
Student 2 wrote twenty-two hundreds as hers. Student 3 was the only student who
asked for my assistance with this question. It is apparent that here, all students were
confused about the position and place value of the thousands and hundreds columns
and therefore, I took this opportunity to extend my teaching practice. This involved
further explanations and practical examples using MAB blocks. I discovered that
when students have the opportunity to physically see the numbers they are trying to

expand, through the use of a visual aid or tool such as MAB blocks, they tend to grasp
the concept much quicker and with greater comprehension. Personally, I was not
equipped or ready to deal with students who were experiencing difficulty with these
two activities, as I had initially expected the students to complete the tasks without
any issues. Ultimately, this lesson tested my own initiative, as I was required to create
alternative methods of teaching suited to the students of whom did not follow the
tasks. All in all, I have learned that within teaching, it is crucial to be prepared and
willing to adapt to address all kinds of unexpected learning styles. I feel as though I
succeeded in the end, as all students walked away from the activity with greater
knowledge, more confidence and less confusion about place value than at the
beginning of the lesson. Furthermore, I have also learnt about the importance of
reflection after activities. Reflection allows teachers to alter tasks and activities for the
future in order to make them more appropriate to the learning style portrayed by the
student. If I were to conduct this task again, I would change the activity to make it
simpler and clearer. I would ensure that students use the MAB blocks as a part of their
answer formulation. This would assist them in developing not only solid answers, but
also questions and a broader knowledge about place value position and number
expansion.

References

McNeill, S. A. (2001). The mayan zeros. The Mathematics Teacher, 94(7), 590-592.
Neugebauer, O. (1969). The exact sciences in antiquity (Vol. 9). Courier Corporation.
Ross, S. H. (1989). Parts, Wholes, and Place Value: A Developmental View. The
Arithmetic Teacher, 36(6), 47.
Smith, D. E., & Karpinski, L. C. (2013). The Hindu-Arabic Numerals. Courier
Corporation.
Van de Walle, J. A., Karp, K. S., & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2014). Elementary and
Middle School Mathematics (8th ed.). Edinburgh Gate, Harlow: Pearson.
Yadav, B. S., & Mohan, M. (2011). Ancient Indian Leaps into Mathematics. New
Delhi, India: Birkhauser.

Appendix 1:

Appendix 2:

Appendix 3:

Appendix 4: Transcript of what the students said verbatim.

Student 1: Charlotte

Student 2: Chloe
Student 3: Yael
Teacher: Good morning grade 3s.
Students 1, 2 and 3: Good morning Miss Greenberg
Teacher: Today, for maths, we will be looking at Place Value, who can
tell me what Place Value is?
Student 3: Its like the hundreds, tens and ones and the position of
the number.
Teacher: You are spot on! Place value is the numerical value of a
digit by its position in a number. So lets practice some examples
together. For the number 4781, who can tell me how many ones
there are?
Student 2: One ones.
Teacher: Great! And how many hundreds are there?
Students 2 and 3: Seven hundreds.
Teacher: Good! How many thousands?
Student 1: Four.
Teacher: Wow, you guys are all so good at this! How many tens?
Student 1: Eight tens.
Teacher: Fantastic job guys, give your friend a hi five! Now Im going
to hand out these work sheets and we are going to play a game
together.
*Hands out worksheets*
Teacher: To begin, Id like you all to write your names on the top of
the page and then in each of the six boxes under Place Value
Bingo, Id like you to write six different 4-digit numbers. Do we all
know what a 4-digit number is?
Students 1, 2 and 3: Yes.
Teacher: Great! If you need some help, please ask me.
*Students quietly fill out their sheets*

Teacher: Okay, it looks like youve all finished writing down your
four-digit numbers. Now we are going to play a game. Are you all
familiar with Bingo?
Students 1, 2 and 3: YES!
Teacher: Well today, we will be playing Bingo but place value style!
So, what this means is that I will be asking things like does your
number has 3 tens? or does your number has 6 thousands? and if
you have a number with 3 tens, or 6 thousands, for example, you
will circle it. The first person to circle all of their numbers correctly
and who shouts out Bingo nice and loud will be the winner. Do you
all understand?
Students 1, 2 and 3: Yes!
Student 1: Can we use colour pencils?
Teacher: Of course you can! Okay, lets begin. Please circle your
number if it has three ones.
*Students 1 and 2 colour their numbers*
Teacher: Please circle your number if it has 7 tens.
*Students 1 and 3 colour their numbers*
Teacher: Please circle your number if it has 2 thousands.
*Students 1 and 3 colour their numbers*
Teacher: Chloe (Student 2), should you be colouring in one of your
numbers here?
Student 2: Um No. I dont think so?
Teacher: How about this one *points to 2212*
Student 2: You asked for two thousands though. This is twenty-two
thousands.
Teacher: Is it? Lets work it out together. Lets draw a table and fill it
in. *Teacher draws up table on the board with ones, tens, hundreds,
and thousands columns. * First, lets check how many ones there
are.
Student 2: Um two ones.
Teacher: Good! Now what comes after ones?
Student 2: Tens, and there are one tens.

Teacher: Fantastic work. What next?

Student 2: After tens is hundreds. So, there are two hundreds. OH,
and after hundreds are thousands and there are two thousands!
Oops. Can I colour it in now?
Teacher: Yes you can. Im very impressed that you were able to work
that one out with barely any help. Good girl.
Okay, next, circle your number if it has zero hundreds.
Student 2: If I have more than one number with zero hundreds in it,
can I colour them both?
Teacher: Absolutely! Good pick up!
*Student 2 colours her numbers in*
Teacher: If your number has zero ones, please circle it.
*Student 2 colours her number*
Teacher: Charlotte (Student 1), is there a number of yours that you
can colour in?
Student 1: No
Teacher: I think there might be. Perhaps you could ask student 2 to
explain how you might be able to find it. Use the table that I drew
out earlier as well.
*Student 2 shows student 1 the number that she can colour in:
7890*
Student 1: But I didnt colour this because it has nine ones.
Teacher: Student 2, can you please explain to student 1 what you
just explained to me before?
*Students 1 and 2 liaise until finally student 1 realises her error*
Teacher: Now if your number has nine ones, circle it.
Student 2: BINGO!
Teacher: Very good! Let me double-check the answers.
*Teacher checks answers and all errors have been altered so student
2 is the winner*
Teacher: Congratulations Student 2! And congratulations to
everyone else. Youve all been working very hard so far, and it

shows because youve produced some great work and even had fun
doing it, well at least I think youre having fun! Are you having fun?
Student 3: Yes, this is a really fun way to do maths.
*Students 1 and 2 nod their heads*
Teacher: Fantastic! Now we are going to move on to the second
activity called Number Expanders. In this task, you need to expand
the number
Student 1: What does that mean?
Teacher: What it means is that you will be breaking the numbers
down into individual numbers and writing it out in written and
numeral form. Lets try the first one together as an example, shall
we?
*Teacher uses whiteboard* So, the number is 1,693. Who can tell me
how many thousands there are.
Student 3: One thousand,
*Teacher writes one thousand on to the board*
Teacher: Good. Next, how many hundreds are there?
Student 2: Um, six hundreds!
*Teacher writes six hundreds on the board after one thousand*
Teacher: Fantastic!! Whats next? Tens or ones?
Student 1: Tens is next. I think there are nine tens.
Teacher: You dont think; you KNOW there are nine tens, great work!
*Teacher writes nine tens on the board after one thousand and six
hundreds*
Teacher: So whats left over? Everyone tell me together.
Students 1, 2 and 3: Three ones!
Teacher: Okay so that looks like One thousand + six hundreds +
nine tens + three ones, yes?
Students 2 and 3: Yes.
Student 1: But can we write it out with numbers instead?
Teacher: Do you mean like this?
*Teacher writes 1000 + 600 + 90 + 3 on board*
Student 1: Yes.

Teacher: Id like you to write it out how we did as a class first and
then underneath that, you can write it out in numeral form if you
wish. Okay, any other questions?
Student 3: Do we use pencil?
Teacher: Yes, because then if you make a mistake, you can rub it
out! Any more questions? Okay, lets get started. I will be walking
around and if you need some help let me know.
Student 3: Can you please help me?
Teacher: Sure, are you stuck on something?
Student 3: I dont know how to do this one *points to 2,200*
Teacher: Okay, lets use some of these MAB blocks to help us work
this out. So from looking at the number, are there any ones?
Student 3: No.
Teacher: And are there any tens?
Student 3: No.
Teacher: Okay, correct. So next we look at.. ?
Student 3: Hundreds.
Teacher: Good! So how many hundreds are there?
Student 3: *reaches for two hundreds MAB blocks*
Teacher: Great work! And whats next, after hundreds?
Student 3: Thousands. There are 2 thousands. *Reaches for 2
thousand MAB blocks
Teacher: So therefore how would you write this out?
Student 3: Two thousands + two hundreds + no ones or tens.
Teacher: Good! Except you dont need to put the ones or tens in
there because they are none! And how would you write it out?
Student 3: Um.. would it just be 2000 + 200?
Teacher: Yes, thats right! Because look at your MAB blocks, there
are only two of the thousand blocks and two of the hundreds blocks
so youre absolutely spot on there! Great work.
Student 3: Thank you.
Student 2: Can you please help me with this one Miss Greenberg?
*Points to 2,015*

Teacher: Absolutely. Lets have a look. Okay, so just like I did with
Yael, Im going to ask you to use some MAB blocks to help you come
up with an answer. So, lets start with the ones, how many are
there?
Student 2: Fives ones.
Teacher: Good, now how would you represent that in MAB blocks.
*Student 2 grabs 5 ones blocks*
Teacher: Great work, what comes next after ones?
Student 2: Tens *reaches for one tens block* and there are one of
them.
Teacher: Awesome! What comes after tens?
Student 2: Hundreds, but there are none.
Teacher: So that means you dont have to collect any! So far you
have your five ones, one ten and no hundreds. What comes after
hundreds?
Student 2: *Reaches for 2 thousand MAB blocks* Two thousands.
Teacher: Great, so put that all together and say it to me as you point
to the MAB blocks.
Student 2: Two thousands, one tens, five ones.
Teacher: Fantastic, now all you have to do is write that out!
Student 2: Okay!
*Students 1, 2 and 3 finish their sheets and hand them in to the
teacher at the conclusion of the task*