Quantities in the Decimal System

Age
3-6

Materials

 * Loose gold beads (representing units)
 * Gold bead bars of ten beads each
 * 10 gold bead squares of ten bars (representing 100)
 * One gold bead cube of hundred squares (representing 1,000)
 * Large tray with a dish or smaller tray, used for transferring the quantities

Preparation
This is an individual presentation.

Presentation

 * 1) A unit bead, and then a ten bar is placed on the table, the child is asked to identify the quantities.
 * 2) One hundred and one thousand are presented in the same manner.
 * 3) The directress gives a three period lesson naming the quantities: unit, ten, hundred, and thousand.
 * 4) The child is then invited to examine the materials and their composition.
 * 5) The child may count the ten beads on the ten bar again.
 * 6) "The hundred is made up of ten ten bars".
 * 7) The ten-bar is placed on top of the square as the child counts.
 * 8) "The thousand is made up of 10 hundreds".
 * 9) The hundred-square is placed next to each section of the cube as the child counts.
 * 10) The directress gives the three period lesson defining the composition of the quantities.

Purpose

 * 1) To develop the concept of the hierarchical orders of the decimal system: units, tens, hundreds, thousands.
 * 2) To give the child the relative measurement of the quantities: bead, bar, square, cube.
 * 3) To prepare the child for geometry concepts: point, line, surface and solid.

Variation

 * 1) This can be a small group exercise. The golden bead materials, now including the wooden hundred-squares and thousand-cubes are arranged at random on a rug.
 * 2) Each child takes a tray.
 * 3) The directress asks the child to bring a quantity. 'Bring me 4 hundreds' As each child returns with the quantity, the child identifies it, and the directress and child count it together.
 * 4) At first the child is asked to bring only one hierarchy at a time. Later he will bring all four at once.