Module 1: Counting & Understanding Quantity

Explore what counting actually means and how numbers communicate quantity. This module develops the ideas behind counting, cardinality, estimation, number representation, and zero.

How Counting Actually Works - Discover why counting is more than simply saying numbers in order. Explore the principles that make counting reliable and meaningful.

Understanding Quantity - Explore how counting connects numbers to actual quantities and why matching one number to one object is fundamental to understanding number.

Representing Numbers in Different Ways - Learn how the same number can be represented using objects, pictures, words, symbols, and expanded forms - and how moving between representations strengthens number sense.

How Big Is It Really? - Develop a sense of how large or small numbers are by comparing quantities, estimating values, and reasoning about numerical magnitude.

Understanding Zero - Explore the many roles of zero: representing no quantity, holding a place in our number system, and acting as an important mathematical identity.

Module 2: Place Value & Number Representation

Investigate how the position of a digit determines its value and how numbers are built within a place-value system. Extend these ideas from whole numbers to decimals, powers of ten, and number systems beyond base ten.

Why Digits Mean What They Mean - Explore why a digit's value depends on where it appears and how the structure of place value makes our number system work.

Building Numbers in Base Ten - Learn how numbers can be built, broken apart, and regrouped using ones, tens, hundreds, and other powers of ten.

Which Number is Really Bigger? - Use place value to read, write, order, and compare numbers while developing strategies for determining their relative size.

Extending Place Value - Extend the place-value system in both directions to understand decimals and the relationships created by multiplying and dividing by powers of ten.

What If We Counted Differently? - Explore number systems that use bases other than ten and discover which features of place value are universal and which depend on the base being used.