Compare Decimals

Compare 0.5 and 0.45.

Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.

What children learn in Level 72

Which is greater, 0.5 or 0.45? 45 looks bigger than 5, but look at the grids!
0.5 is 5 tenths, which is 50 hundredths. 50 hundredths is more than 45 hundredths. So 0.5 is greater.
With a place-value chart, compare the tenths first: 5 tenths is more than 4 tenths.
Compare decimals only when they're parts of the same whole, like the same dollar or the same grid.

Georgia's K-12 Mathematics Standards:

4.NR.5.3 — Compare two decimal numbers to the hundredths place by reasoning about their size. Record the results of comparisons with the symbols >, =, or <, and justify the conclusions.