Grade 4 · Place value
Habitat restoration: scale one digit through powers of ten
A place-value demonstration for a habitat restoration project moves the digit 1 through 1 places to the left of ones. Change the controls and explain what the animation reveals.
Predict what will happen, press Play, then pause and explain what changed. Every control also works without playback.
Watch the relationship
PausedHD animation studio
From experiment to screen.
Present a crisp Canvas scene, save a full-HD image, or capture your model as a silent video.
Understand what you are seeing
The idea behind the motion.
A place-value demonstration for a habitat restoration project moves the digit 1 through 1 places to the left of ones. Each move one place left multiplies a digit's value by ten. Repeated moves multiply by powers of ten, not by the number of places moved. At its destination the digit contributes 10. The animation moves a written symbol; intermediate locations between columns are not new place values.
A relationship to keep
1 × 10^1 = 10
Read the symbols alongside the explanation. A diagram shows the relationship; the assumptions tell you when it applies.
- STEP 1
Read the starting situation
A place-value demonstration for a habitat restoration project moves the digit 1 through 1 places to the left of ones. Identify what each number measures before changing a control; the worked example refers to these starting values.
- STEP 2
Follow the mathematical change
Follow the digit between place columns, then read its destination only when the motion reaches the selected place. Pause on an intermediate frame and compare the picture with the live readouts.
- STEP 3
Explain and test the relationship
At its destination the digit contributes 10. The animation moves a written symbol; intermediate locations between columns are not new place values. Change one input, predict its effect, and test whether the same relationship still works.
Your turn to explain
Make a prediction. Test your reasoning.
Habitat restoration: use the original situation. A place-value demonstration for a habitat restoration project moves the digit 1 through 1 places to the left of ones. What is the value after one further move to the left?
Use the values specified in the question. Reset restores the initial values for this investigation.
Compare your explanation
100, ten times 10.
Work through a full lesson
Connect the animation to a worked example and practice questions.