Maths · Upper Key Stage 2 Year 6
Year 6 Number and Place Value
Read, write, order and round whole numbers up to ten million, work with negative numbers, and solve problems that take several steps.
About this topic
This course takes whole numbers as far as ten million and then across zero into negative values. It begins with reading and writing, because a number you cannot say correctly is a number you cannot use. From there it moves to the value of each digit, which is what makes comparing and ordering possible. Rounding comes next, framed as a decision rather than a rule: the problem being solved is what decides how accurate an answer needs to be. The second half of the course crosses zero. Intervals between positive and negative numbers are counted as distances along one continuous scale, then applied to temperatures, floors and balances, where the sign carries half the meaning. The final lesson brings everything together in problems that take several steps, where the order of the steps and the moment you round both change the answer. Along the way the learner works through short worked examples, repeats the same five step routines until they become automatic, and meets the specific errors that cost marks in each topic. Every lesson ends with a quiz, and the course finishes with a final test and one project that asks the learner to find real large numbers, round them sensibly and justify the accuracy they chose.
What you will learn
- Read numbers up to ten million aloud using periods of three digits.
- Write numbers up to ten million from spoken or written words, using zeros as placeholders.
- State the value of any digit in a number up to ten million.
- Compare two large numbers and say which is larger, working from the leftmost column.
- Order a set of large numbers into ascending or descending order.
- Choose a degree of accuracy that suits the problem being solved.
- Round a whole number to a required degree of accuracy, including where a nine carries.
- Calculate the interval between two numbers across zero.
- Use negative numbers in context, including temperature, floors and balances.
- Solve multi-step problems involving numbers up to ten million.
- Justify the degree of accuracy used in an answer.
Vocabulary
Words to know
You will meet these words in this topic. Press the speaker to hear one. Inside a lesson you can tap any word to hear it and see what it means.
Words this topic teaches
- period
Three digits, together, in a number.
- commas
Marks that break up numbers into groups.
- column
A vertical space where digits stand in a number.
- placeholder
A zero that fills a space so other numbers stay in order.
- unit
One part by itself.
- multiply
Times a number by another.
- ascending
Getting bigger. From small to big.
- descending
Getting smaller. From big to small.
- population
The number of people in a place.
- replacing
Putting something different in the place of what was there.
- method
How you do a sum.
- digit
One number from 0 to 9 in a larger number.
- ascend
Go up. Get bigger.
- scale
A way you measure size or amount.
- row
A line of things side by side.
- arithmetic
Simple maths like adding and taking away.
- context
The situation where something is used.
- subtract
Take one number away from another.
- precise
Very exact, not rough or guessed.
Other words in these lessons
- pause
Stop speaking or moving for a moment.
- routine
A set of steps you follow every time.
- padded
Filled or made longer by adding extra.
- state
Say clearly.
- calculate
Work out an answer with numbers.
- version
A form or type of something.
- identical
They look the same.
- single
Only one.
- establish
Make something sure or clear.
- fill
Put something in a space.
- drift
Move from its place slowly.
- crowd
Many people together in one place.
- reverse
Change the order backwards.
- slip
A quick or small mistake.
- trust
To believe something is correct or true.
- decide
Choose one thing after thinking about it.
- accountant
A person who looks after money and numbers for a business.
- headline
The big title at the start of a news story.
- planning
Getting ready by thinking about what to do.
- meeting
A time when people talk together about work.
- reliably
In a way that works well every time.
- applied
Use a rule or idea.
- hospital
A building where doctors look after sick people.
- original
The first one, not a changed one.
- detail
A small or extra part that adds to the whole thing.
- apart
When things are not together.
- real
The correct answer, not an estimate.
- case
A time or situation.
- rest
All the others not counted first.
- pair
Two things that are matched together.
- further
More far along, in distance.
- boundary
The edge or end of something.
- freeze
Change from liquid to solid, like water to ice.
- midday
Twelve o'clock in the middle of the day.
- misread
Understand something wrongly when reading.
- prevent
It makes sure it does not happen.
- situation
What is going on all around you.
- estimate
A quick guess that is close.
- organise
Arrange things so they make sense.
- introduce
Make something start or appear.
- contain
Has something or holds something.
- separate
Each one on its own.
- amount
How much of something you have.
Lessons
- 1How Do We Read and Write Numbers to Ten Million?Free to try
- 2What Is Each Digit Worth in a Very Large Number? Locked
- 3How Do We Order and Compare Large Numbers? Locked
- 4How Do We Round to the Accuracy a Problem Needs? Locked
- 5How Do We Calculate Intervals Across Zero? Locked
- 6How Do We Use Negative Numbers in Context? Locked
- 7How Do We Solve Multi-Step Problems with Large Numbers? Locked