Lesson Video: The Comparison Symbols Mathematics • 1st Grade

Video Transcript

The Comparison Symbols

In this video, we will learn how to use the comparison symbols for less than, equal to, and greater than when comparing groups of up to 10 objects. We’re going to learn about three symbols.

The first symbol we’re going to learn about is called less than. We can use this symbol to help us compare groups of objects. Let’s compare number three and number seven. Number three comes before number seven on the number track. We can tell that number three is less than number seven because the tower of three bricks is shorter than the tower of seven bricks.

When we’re thinking about the less than symbol, we always place the smallest number or the smallest amount at the smallest end of the symbol. The shortest tower is the one with three blocks. We always place the greatest number or the greatest number of objects at the greatest end of the symbol. This is a good way to remember the less than symbol.

We put the smallest number, or the smallest number of objects, at the smallest end of the symbol. And we put the greatest number, or the greatest number of objects, at the end of the symbol which is the greatest. Three blocks is less than seven blocks. We can use this symbol to show that three is less than seven.

If we were comparing the numbers three and seven using the greater than symbol, we would put the greatest amount, or the greatest number of objects, at the greatest end of the symbol and the smallest number, or the least number of objects, at the smallest end of the symbol. Seven bricks are greater than three bricks. And we could write our number sentence to show that seven is greater than three.

This symbol is the equal to symbol. We use it to show when two numbers or two groups of objects have the same value. Each block has six bricks, so we can say that six bricks are equal to six bricks. We can say that six is equal to six. Let’s practice using the symbols less than, equal to, and greater than to help us compare groups of objects.

Compare these cube towers. Select the correct symbol to compare the number of cubes, less than, equal to, or greater than.

First, we have to compare the cube towers. Let’s count the number of bricks in the green tower. One, two, three, four, five, six. The first tower has six cubes. Let’s count the second tower. One, two, three, four, five, six. The blue tower also has six cubes. The cube towers are equal. The correct symbol to compare the number of cubes is equal to. Six is equal to six. The cube towers used an equal number of cubes.

Compare these sets of cubes. Pick the missing symbol, equal to, greater than, or less than.

First, we need to compare the sets of cubes. Let’s count the cubes in the first tower. One, two, three, four, five. There are five cubes in the first tower. And the blue tower has one, two, three cubes. Which tower has the greatest number of cubes? The green one. It has five cubes. And the blue tower has three. Five is greater than three. The greatest part of the symbol points to the greatest number, or the greatest amount of objects. And the smallest end of the symbol points to the least number of objects, or the smallest number. The missing symbol is greater than. Five is greater than three.

Is the number of dinosaurs in set A greater than, less than, or equal to the number in set B.

We’re shown two pictures of dinosaurs, set A and set B. We have to compare the two sets. We have to decide if set A is equal to set B, if set A is greater than set B, or if set A is less than set B. Before we choose the missing symbol, we need to compare both sets of dinosaurs.

Let’s count the dinosaurs in set A. We could place a counter on each dinosaur so we can keep track. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. There are nine dinosaurs in set A. Let’s count the dinosaurs in set B. One, two, three, four, five, six. Set B has six dinosaurs. Which set has the most? It’s set A. Nine is greater than six. So, the missing symbol is greater than. Set A is greater than set B.

What have we learned in this video? We’ve learned that we can use the symbols less than, equal to, or greater than to help us compare groups of objects.