The origins of our decimal number system.

A task I use to reinforce understanding of place value and standard form. Lower ability students can also practice column additions and subtractions which makes it an ideal task for students who do not line up place values before calculating.

Students decode a paragraph to find out about the origins of the decimal number system that is used today. The puzzle relies on a knowledge of powers of ten. Devices within the puzzle allow students to self monitor their work and correct errors (answers included). For more number resources search for Place Value - powers of 10, decode the origins of the decimal point or decode the adoption of negative numbers.

Key words: Standard form, Units, Tens, Hundreds, Thousands, powers of 10, place value, standard form, addition, subtraction, message, decode, origin, indian, arabic, numbers, worksheet, history of mathematics, math, maths, (unlock untangle understand).