Understanding Place Value

Every number has a 'home' or a place. In a three-digit number, the digits live in three different houses. The house on the far right is for Ones. The middle house is for Tens. The house on the far left is for Hundreds. For example, in the number $342$, the $3$ is in the hundreds place, the $4$ is in the tens place, and the $2$ is in the ones place. The position of the digit tells us how much it is actually worth!

We can use base-ten blocks to see numbers. A tiny cube is a unit ($1$). When you snap $10$ units together, they make a rod ($10$). When you put $10$ rods together, they make a big square called a flat ($100$). This is why we call it the base-ten system—everything is built by grouping tens!

Expanded form is a way to write a number to show the value of each digit. It is like stretching the number out so you can see the math inside. We use a plus sign ($+$) between the hundreds, tens, and ones. For example, the number $735$ stretched out is $700 + 30 + 5$. This helps us understand that $735$ is just a shortcut for adding those three values together.