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Abacus · Ages 7+ · Set A
Open a ten
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A
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Goal: 15 min
Score/ 14
Remember: Borrow a ten whenever the ones are too few. A ten steps down for ten ones.

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Read the story, then answer.

Zoe's braceletMia and Ben ran the bead stall at the school fair. Their counting frame showed forty-three beads: four bags of ten and three loose beads. Zoe wanted nine beads for a bracelet. Mia counted the loose beads, but there were only three. You cannot take nine away from three. Then Ben held up one bag of ten and told Mia to open it. Pop! Ten loose beads rolled out. Now there were three bags and thirteen loose beads. Zoe counted nine beads into her hand. Three bags and four loose beads stayed on the counter.
1
How many beads are left after Zoe takes nine?
2
Mia can take nine beads from three loose beads.
TrueFalse
3
What did Ben tell Mia to open?
one bag of tenall the bagsthe counter
4
After the bag was opened there were three bags and loose beads.

On the frame

Look at the ones first: can you take them away?

5
The ones row of this frame is too short to take away 7. What do you do?
Take away 2 and stopOpen a ten: it steps down for ten onesAdd more tens
6
The frame shows 61. Take away 18. 61 - 18 =
7
The frame shows 83. Take away 47. 83 - 47 =
8
The ones row is empty. 40 - 15 =
9
Which frame shows 43 take away 9? The top row is tens.
A
B
C
10
Circle every sum where you must borrow.
56 - 2352 - 3774 - 3968 - 45

Order, fix it and stretch

11
Number the steps for 43 - 9.
  • Take away the 3 ones you have
  • Take away the 6 that still have to go
  • Read the rows
  • Open a ten: it brings ten ones
12
Ben did 52 - 17 and said 45. What slip did he make?
He took the smaller digit from the bigger one in each rowHe borrowed twiceHe added instead
13
Carrying and borrowing are mirrors of each other.
TrueFalse
14
93 - 67 =
15
Tell a grown-up how you borrow a ten on the frame.
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Answer key · Set A
Open a ten
134 43 take away 9 leaves 3 bags of ten and 4 loose beads, which is 34.
2False You cannot take nine away from three, so a bag of ten has to be opened.
3one bag of ten Opening one bag gives ten loose beads. Opening a bag changes how the beads sit, not how many there are.
413 The 3 loose beads and the 10 new ones make 13.
5Open a ten: it steps down for ten ones One ten trades down for ten ones, so the ones row has enough beads.
643 Open a ten: 5 tens and 11 ones. 11 - 8 = 3 ones and 5 - 1 = 4 tens.
736 Open a ten: 7 tens and 13 ones. 13 - 7 = 6 ones and 7 - 4 = 3 tens.
825 Open a ten: 3 tens and 10 ones. 10 - 5 = 5 ones and 3 - 1 = 2 tens.
9C 43 take away 9 is 34: three tens and four ones. Frame A takes 3 from 9 the wrong way round.
1052 - 37, 74 - 39 2 ones cannot lose 7 and 4 ones cannot lose 9. In the others the ones row has enough.
111, 3, 4, 2 Take what you can, open a ten, take the rest, then read.
12He took the smaller digit from the bigger one in each row In the ones row he did 7 - 2 = 5 instead of opening a ten. The answer is 35.
13True Carrying trades ten ones up for one ten. Borrowing trades one ten down for ten ones.
1426 Open a ten: 8 tens and 13 ones. 13 - 7 = 6 and 8 - 6 = 2.
15Your own words: a grown-up reads it.
Mark each answer, count the right ones and write the score on the sheet.