Compare and Order Whole Numbers Teaching Resources

Teach how to compare and order whole numbers this school year with printable worksheets, digital activities and more teacher-created resources.

Designed to help students understand the relative size of numbers and learn to arrange them in ascending or descending order, this collection of resources has everything you'll need to build your maths lesson plans!

Is this your first year teaching students how to compare whole numbers and order them? Or perhaps you are just looking for some quick tips to help you plan? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including a look at the different maths comparison symbols!

What Is a Comparison Symbol in Maths? A Kid-Friendly Explanation

Key to teaching kids how to compare numbers is an explanation of the different comparison symbols that they can use to represent the relationships between different whole numbers.

There are three main comparison symbols or signs that we use in maths:

1. Greater Than Sign

The symbol > is known as the greater than sign in maths.

When the greater than sign is used to compare numbers, it tells us the number on the left is larger or greater than the number on the right.

2. Less Than Sign

The symbol < is known as the less than sign in maths.

When we are comparing whole numbers, we can use the less than sign  to show that the number on the left is smaller or less than the number on the right.

3. Equal Sign

The final sign or symbol used when comparing whole numbers is known as the equal sign, and it looks like this: =.

We use an equal sign to express that two numbers are exactly the same or equal to one another.

How to Compare Whole Numbers — A Step-By-Step Guide for Kids

Now that we've looked at the different signs that are used when we're comparing whole numbers, how do you actually do it?

Here are some steps that kids can take!

1. Compare Digits at the Same Place Value

Start by comparing the digits at the same place value from left to right.

Look at the digits in the ones place first, then the tens place, hundreds place, and so on.