🔢 Comparing & Ordering Numbers

To compare two numbers means to find which is bigger, which is smaller, or whether they are equal. We use three signs:
• > means greater than (the open mouth eats the bigger number).
• < means less than.
• = means equal to.

The place-value rule: always start from the left (the biggest place). The number with more digits is bigger. If they have the same number of digits, compare the thousands first, then hundreds, then tens, then ones — stop as soon as one digit is bigger.

When we put many numbers in order we can arrange them two ways:
• Ascending order — smallest to biggest (going up), like climbing stairs.
• Descending order — biggest to smallest (going down).

To order numbers, compare them in pairs using place value, then line them up.