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Contents of Primary
Mathematics (K-3)
Module Starter

This module contains topics which are aligned to the K to 12 Curriculum. The lessons in

this module is constructed to suit your needs as future teachers. This is designed to equip you

with pedagogical content knowledge for the teaching of basic contents in mathematics in the

primary level. Understanding of key concepts and skills of selected topics are applied using

appropriate technology and teaching strategies.

Module Outcomes

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

1. Develop meaning for the operations by modeling and discussing a rich variety of

problem situations;

2. Develop operation sense;

3. Select and use computation techniques appropriate to specific problems and

determine whether the results are reasonable;

4. Apply fractions and decimals to problem situations;

5. Relate geometric ideas to number and measurement ideas;

6. Recognize and appreciate geometry in their world;

7. Explore the use of variables and open sentences to express relationships;

 Module 6. Contents of Primary Mathematics | Espinar, Mae joy Tan

8. Make and use measurement in problem and everyday situations;

9. Formulate and solve problems that involve collecting and analyzing data;

10. Explore concepts of chance.

Lesson 6.1 Number and Number Sense (Whole Numbers and

Fractions)

Many of us take whole numbers for granted, not fully appreciating that whole numbers

have many significant applications and they provide the basis for working with fractions,

decimals and integers. Whole numbers help us locate streets and houses. They help us keep

track of how many bananas we have. They help us keep track of the budget and the amount of

unemployment.

1.1 Numeration System

People first used numbers to count objects. Before people understood the abstract idea

of a number such as “ four,” they associated the number 4 with sets of objects such as four

cows or four stars. A major breakthrough occurred when people began to think of “four” as an

abstract quantity that could measure the sizes of a variety of concrete sets.

No one knows probably, but the first numeration system was a tally system. The first

nine numbers would have been written as follows:

I II III IIII IIIII IIIIII IIIIIII IIIIIIII IIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIII

Five thousand years ago, the ancient Egyptians improved the tally system by inventing

additional symbols for 10, 100, 1000 and so on. Symbols are called numerals. Most of our

knowledge about Egyptian numerals from the Moscow Papyrus(1850 B.C.) and the Rhind

Papyrus(1650 B.C.). Egyptian numerals are rather attractive symbols called hieroglyphics.

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Using symbols for groups as well as for single objects was a major advance that made it

possible to represent large quantities much more easily. The ancient Egyptioan numeration

system uses ten as a base, whereby a new symbol replaces each group of 10 symbols. The

Egyptian system is additive, since the value of a number is the sum of the values of the

numerals. For instance, ꝮꝮIII represents 100 +100 + 1 +1 +1, or 203.

The Babylonians made another significant improvement by developing a system based

on place value, in which the value of a numeral changed according to its position. A place

value system reduces the number of different symbols needed.

The Babylonians used place value (for numbers greater than 59), a base of 60, and two

symbols: < for 10 and Y for 1. The 3800- year- old tablet below shows Babylonian

numerals.

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The Roman Numeration System can still be found today in books, outlines, movies, and

monuments.

The basic Roman numerals have the following base-ten values.

Roman Numeral I V X L C D M

Base-Ten-Value 11 5 10 50 100 500 1,000

Add when the symbols are alike or decrease in value from left to right. Subtract when

the value of a symbol is less than the value of the symbols to its right. For example, XI is 11

and IX is 9. The Roman numeration system was developed between 500 B.C. and A.D. 100,

but the subtractive principle was not introduced until the Middle ages.

Base-Ten Place-Value System or the Hindu Arabic Numeration System was developed

between A.D. 200 and 1000. The Hindus and the Mayans were the first to treat 0 not only as a

placeholder but also as a separate numeral.

The Hindu-Arabic numerals 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, and 9 were developed from 300 B.C. to

A.D. 1522. It has three (3) important features: (1) a symbol for zero, (2) a way to represent any

whole number using some combination of ten basic symbols(called digits) , and (3) base-ten

place-value, in which each digit in a numeral, according to its position, is multiplied by a

specific power of ten. Each place has ten times the value of the place immediately to its right.

This chart shows the place value chart in the Hindu-arabic numeration system.

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The number 4 728 is read as “ four thousand, seven hundred twenty-eight”. The table

below shows the place value and value of each digit in the number 4 728. Observe that the

value is simply the products of the digit and its place value.

Place Value

Digit Word Figure Value

8 Ones 1 8x1=8

2 Tens 10 2 x 10 = 20

7 Hundreds 100 7 x 100 = 700

4 thousands 1 000 4 x 1 000 = 4 000

Activity 6.1.1

A. Give the place value and value of the digit 8 in each numeral.

Number Place Value Value

1. 387
2. 832
3. 8 579
4. 6 718
5. 7 820

B. Write the following in words.

1. 501 ______________________________________________________________
2. 902 ______________________________________________________________
3. 6 037 _____________________________________________________________
4. 9 570______________________________________________________________
5. 7 009______________________________________________________________

C. Write the following in symbols.

1. five hundred eighteen__________________________________
2. five hundred forty-two ________________________________
3. seven thousand, eight hundred sixty __________________
4. six thousand, eight hundred thirty-seven ________________
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5. four thousand, two ___________________________________

D. Answer the following.

1. What is the digit with the biggest value in 1 459? _____________________________
2. What is the sum of the digits in the tens and thousands place in the numeral 9 087?
_________________________________________________________________
3. What is the sum of the values of the digits in the ones and hundreds place in the
numeral 9 837? _____________________________________________________
4. Which digit has the smallest value in the numeral 1 089? __________________
5. I am a three-digit number. My tens digit is 3 more than my ones digit. My hundreds digit
is an odd number less than 3. What number am I? _______________________

Ordinal Number also called ordinal numeral is any of the numbers that express degree,

quality, or position in a series, as first, second and third.

Ordinal Number in Words Ordinal Number in Symbols

First 1st
Second 2nd
Third 3rd
Fourth 4th
Fifth 5th
Sixth 6th
Seventh 7th
Eighth 8th
Ninth 9th
Tenth 10th
Eleventh 11th
Twelfth 12th
Twentieth 20th
Twenty-first 21st
Thirtieth 30th

Give the name of the object in the following position:

1. Fourth (4th ) = ________________________ (arrow)

2. Fifth (5th) = ___________________________(ribbon)

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3. First ( 1st) = ___________________________(smiley)

4. Third (3rd) = ___________________________(star)

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Addition and Subtraction of Whole Numbers

In the addition sentence 7 107 + 534 + = 7 641, 7 107 and 534 are called addends while 7

641 is called sum. Addends are numbers being added while sum is the result of addition.

Addition is the process of putting two or more numbers or things together. For instance, let

us illustrate the following: 2 mangoes added by 3 mangoes total 5 mangoes.

T h e i l l u s t r a t i

simply count them from left to right. The addition sentence would be 2 + 3 = 5.

Another way to illustrate addition is through block model which is shown below.

3 2

Properties of Addition

1. Commutative Property of Addition (CPA) – the order of the addends does not affect

the sum.

Ex. 2+3=3+2 =5

2. Associative Property of Addition (APA) – changing the grouping s of the addends

does not affect the sum.

Ex. The sum of (8 + 7) + 2 is equal to the sum of 8 + ( 7 + 2).

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( 8 + 7) + 2 = 8 + (7 + 2)

15 + 2 = 8 + 9

17 = 17

3. Identity Property of Addition (IPA) - the sum of a number and zero is the same number.

Ex. 8 + 0 = 8 0 + 35 = 35 1+0=1

Subtraction is another operation we need to learn as it is very useful in daily life.

Subtraction is the process of taking away one number from another. For instance, Dan had 6

fishes. Two of them died. How many are left? To find the difference, we subtract 2 from 6. Let

us represent this situation using an illustration:

The illustration shows that the difference between 6 and 2 is 4. It means that 6 - 2 = 4.

Another way to show this is by using the inverse operation of subtraction which is

addition. That is 2 + _____ = 6. So, what should be added to 2 to get a sum of 6? This shows

that subtraction is like finding the missing addend.

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In 6 - 2 = 4, 6 is called minuend. It is the number being subtracted from. The number 2

is called the subtrahend or the number used to subtract. Then, 4 is called difference or

remainder, which is the answer in subtraction.

Subtraction is the inverse operation of addition. It means that 6 – 2 = 4 may be

translated into an addition sentence which is:

Subtraction Sentence Addition Sentence

6–2=4 4 + 2 = 6 or 2 + 4 = 6

Activity 6.1.2

Read, analyze and solve the following:

1. James has P79.00. He bought a piece of sandwich at P25.00. How much money does

he have left?______________

2. Ryza has 24 marbles. Melba has 8 marbles more than Ryza. How many marbles do the

two girls have in all? ______________

3. The sum of two numbers is 48 while their difference is 8. What are the numbers?

_____________

1.2 Multiplication and Division of Whole Numbers

Multiplication as Repeated Addition

In the multiplication sentence 830 x 2 = 1 660; 830 and 2 are called factors while 1

660 is called product.

Find the sum of the following:

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1. 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 =

2. 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 =

3. 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 =

In the exercise above, observe that the same numbers are being added repeatedly. In this

case, we can find the answer using another operation which is multiplication.

Classifying Multiplication Applications

Multiplication is used in a variety of applications, which usually fall into one of five

categories.

1. Repeated Sets. Find the total number of objects, given a certain number of equivalent

sets, each of which has the same number of objects.

Ex. I bought 3 packages of tomatoes. Each package contained 4 tomatoes. How many

tomatoes did I buy?

2. Repeated Measures. Find the total measure that results from repeating a given

measure a certain number of times.

Ex. On a long car trip, I average 50 miles per hour. How far will I travel in 6 hours?

50 50 50 50 50 50

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 miles

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3. Array. Find the total number of objects needed to occupy a given number or rows and

columns.

Ex. A class has 4 rows of desks with 3 desks in each row. How many desks are there?

4. Area (Measures). Find the total measure in square units, given the width (number of

rows of squares) and length (number of columns of squares). This category establishes

an important connection between multiplication and area.

Ex. A rug is 4 feet by 3 feet. What is its area in square feet?

Shirt Pant Outfits
3 feet
s

P1 S1P1
4 feet
P2 S1P2
S1 P3 S1P3

P4 S1P4
5. Cartesian Product (Pairings). Find the total
P1 S2P1
number of different pairs by pairing any objects
P2 S2P2
from one set with any object from a second set. S2 P3 S2P3
Ex. I have three shirts and 4 pairs of pants. How many
P4 S2P4
different shirt-pants outfits can I create?
P1 S3P1

S3 P2 S3P2
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P3 S3P3

P4 S3P4
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P1 P2 P3 P4

S1 X X X X

S2 X X X X

S3 X X X X

In elementary school, repeated sets, repeated measures, arrays, area and Cartesian

products are usually introduced with manipulatives and pictures.

Division Definition

Just as subtraction is defined in terms of addition, division is defined in terms of

multiplication.

In 12 ÷ 3 = 4; 12 is called the dividend, 3 is called the divisor, and 4 is called the

quotient. Division is the inverse operation of multiplication.

The connections among whole number operations are summarized in the following

diagram:

Repeated Addition

ADDITION MULTIPLICATION

Inverse Inverse
Operations Operations

Repeated
Subtraction
SUBTRACTION DIVISION
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Division is a repeated subtraction. Example: A child has 8 cookies to distribute, She

serves 2 cookies per person and she want to figure out how many people she can serve. She

could use repeated subtraction to determine the answer.

8 – 2 = 6; 6 - 2 = 4; 4 - 2 = 2 – 2 = 0

Whole number division problems such as 8 ÷ 2 can be thought of as asking how many

times 2 can be subtracted from 8 until nothing remains. The answer is 4.

Classifying Division Applications

1. Repeated Sets. Find how many sets of a certain size can be made from a group of

objects.

Ex. I have a dozen eggs, how many 3-egg omelets can I make?

2. Repeated Measures. Find how many measurements of a certain size equal a given

measurement.

Ex. A walk is 12 miles long. How long will it take if a walker averages 3 miles per hour?

3 3 3 3

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

3. Partition Sets. Find how many are in each group when you divide a set of objects

equally into a given number of groups.

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Ex. We have 12 yummy strawberries for the 3 of us. How many will each person get if

we are fair about it?

4. Partition Measures. Find the measure of each part when you divide a given

measurement into a given number of equal parts.

Ex. Let’s divide this delicious 12-inch sandwich equally among the 3 of us. How long, a

piece will each of us receive?

12

? ? ?

5. Array. Find the number of rows (or columns) given an array of objects and the number

of columns (or rows).

Ex. Twelve people are seated in 3 rows. How many people are there kin each row?

6. Area. Find the length (or width) of a rectangle, given its area and its width (or length).

Ex. A rug had an area of 12m2 and a length of 3 m. What is its width?

?m

3m

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Division by Zero

Division problems involving zero are a source of confusion. What is 4 ÷ 0? 0÷0?

0÷4? According to the definition of division, 4 ÷ 0 and 0 ÷ 0 are undefined because you cannot

have 0 as a divisor. However, 0 ÷ 4 is defined. Children wonder why one problem is defined,

but the other two are not.

Expression involving division of zero are most easily examined by converting the

expression to a related multiplication equation. They can also be analyzed using any of the six

division categories. The repeated-sets model is usually the easiest to use.

Using the inverse -of-multiplication model, 4 ÷ 0 =? would mean 0 x ? = 4. There is no

solution to 0 x ? = 4, so we make 4 ÷ 0 undefined.

Using repeated sets, 4÷ 0 would mean “How many sets of 0 will make 4?” No number of

sets of 0 will make 4. So, we make 4 ÷ 0 undefined.

In elementary school, we simply teach children that they cannot divide a number by

zero, after doing some examples such as 4 ÷ 0 and 2 ÷ 0. The difference between 0 ÷ 0 and

these other examples is not discussed. You are unlikely to find 0 ÷ 0 in an elementary school

textbook, but a child may ask you about it.

Exercise 6.1.3

Solve the following problems:

1. When Analyn divided a number by 7, the quotient is 9. What is the

number?

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2. A vendor has 40 eggs which she arranged in trays, each containing 6 eggs/

How many trays did she use? How many eggs are in the last tray?

3. April has twice candy as Angelika while Angelika has thrice as many

candies as Angelo. If Angelo has 8 candies, how many candies do the

three have in all?

1.4 A Concept of a Fraction

“What part” refers to a fraction. This means that fraction is a part of a whole. One slice

of a cake represents one-fourth. One-fourth in symbol is

1 Numerator
Fraction ¯¿
4 denominator

The number above the fraction bar is called numerator. It tells the number of slices of

cake is considered. The number below the fraction bar is called denominator. It tells the

number of equal parts into which the whole cake is divided. The fraction bar or the line that

separates the numerator from the denominator is called vinculum.

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Fractions could also be used to identify part of the set.

Example: In a box, there are 5 marbles. Two marbles are black. What part of the

marbles is black?

2
If your answer is , then you are right. There are 2 black marbles out of a total
5

of 5 marbles in the box.

Four Meanings of an Elementary Fraction

2
What are some different things the fraction can represent in mathematics or in
3

everyday life?

1. Part of a whole (or region): 2 means to count 2 parts out of 3

3

equal parts.

2
2. Part of a set (or group): means to divide a set into 3 equal groups and shade 2 out
3

of every 3.

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2
3. Location on a number line: is a number between 0 and 1. Divide the interval from 0
3

2
to 1 into 3 parts, and count 2 parts over from 0 to 1. In other words, go of the way
3

from 0 to 1.

1 2
0 1
3 3

2
4. Division: means 2 ÷ 3, the numerator divided by the denominator.
3

Kinds of Fractions
Fractions can be classified as proper, improper and mixed number.

A proper fraction is a fraction whose value is less than 1. Its numerator is less than its

2 2
denominator. From the previous examples, and are proper fractions.
3 5

An improper fraction is a fraction whose value is equal to or greater than 1. Its

5 11
numerator is equal to or greater than its denominator. Examples are and ,
5 3

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7
A mixed number is composed of a whole number and a fractional part such as 1 and
9

1
3 ∧1
4 5 . A fraction with a numerator of one is called unit fraction. Examples are 6 .
9

Equivalent Fractions are fractions which are equal or with the same value. Examples:

1 2
and look different but they have the same value.
2 4

Fractions with the same denominators are called similar fractions. Thus, we can say

2 3
that and are similar because they have the same denominators.
5 5

2 1
Fractions with different denominators are dissimilar fractions. Examples: and
5 2

are dissimilar because have different denominators.

Comparing and Ordering Fraction

Fractions can be compared using relation symbols such as greater than (>), less than (<),

2 3
or equal (=). Example: Jay drank pitcher of orange juice while Roger drank pitcher. Who
5 5

between the boys drank a greater amount of orange juice?

To compare these fractions, we can illustrate them as follows:

2 3
5
(Jay)
5
(Roger)

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2 3
Based on the shaded parts, we can say that is less than . In symbols, we can say
5 5

2 3
that < , therefore we can say that Roger drank a greater amount of orange juice than Jay.
5 5

2 3
Since we already known that and are “similar fractions” we can now generalize
5 5

that without illustration, we can compare the fractions based on their numerators. That is, the

bigger the numerator, the greater the fraction is or the smaller the numerator, the lesser the

fraction is.

We can also arrange fractions in increasing or decreasing order. Example: How do we

3
2 ∧1
arrange , 5 in ascending order? By illustration, we can represent
5
2

them as follows:

2 3 1
5 5 2

2 1 3
Based on the illustration, we can say that is the least, is the middle and is the last
5 2 5

because it is the greatest among the three. If we arrange the fractions in decreasing order, we

3 1 2
come up with the arrangement , , .
5 2 5

Addition and Subtraction of Similar Fractions and Mixed Numbers

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To add similar fractions, add the numerators of the given fractions and copy the same

1 2 3
denominator, reduce the answer to lowest term if necessary. Examples: + =
5 5 5

Let show it through illustration.

To add mixed numbers with similar fractions, we follow the same steps. Add the

numerators, add the whole numbers and copy the common denominator.

2 3 5
Example: 1 +2 =3
7 7 7

To subtract similar fractions, subtract the numerator of the given fractions and copy the

3 1 2
same denominator. Example: - = , to illustrate:
5 5 5

- =

To subtract mixed numbers of fractions with the same denominators, we simply subtract

the fractional parts, subtract the whole numbers and copy the common denominator. Simplify if

4 2 2
needed. Example: 3 -2 =1
5 5 5

Exercise 6.1.4
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Analyze and answer the following:

1. Cherrie scored 17 in a 20-item test. What fraction of the test did Cherrie answer

incorrectly?

2. The Grade 2 class of UEPLES has 18 boys out of 35 learners. What fraction of the class

are girls?

1 2
3. Ayah is looking in her footwear box. If of her footwear are shoes and are slippers,
3 3

which footwear does she have more?

2
4. Keith and Noel filled the tank with water. Keith filled the tank with 3 gallons of water.
5

3
Noel filled the tank with 2 gallons of water more than Keith. How many gallons of
5

water did the two boys fill the tank with in all?

3
5. Perla has 3 meters of cloth. She used 1 meters for her blouse. How many meters of
5

cloth was left?

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