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.