In this activity, we will be placing measurements in decreasing order of size, starting with the largest.  This is also known as descending order.

Example

Put the following measurements in order, largest first.

Answer

To place these in order we need to look at the digits after the decimal point, because all the ones digits are the same.

We have 4.24, 4.02, 4.20, 4.72, 4.46

Notice that 4.2 has become 4.20

Now the numbers are easy to put in order.

4.72 is the largest because 72/100 is the largest.

The answer is 4.72 cm , 4.46 cm , 4.24 cm , 4.2 cm , 4.02 cm

Let's try some questions now.