This activity is about subtracting numbers.

Example

Ali has £71 in his piggy bank.		He spent £42.

How many pounds did he have left?

Answer

We can use the number line below:

We start at 71 and go back 42 to get to 29.

When you go back 42, you can go back 1 (to get to 70), then 10, then 10, then 10, then 10, then the final 1

71 - 42 = 29

Ali has 29 pounds left.

There are many ways of doing a subtraction, but we're going to practise this method in the questions that follow.