Round Whole Numbers to the Nearest 10

Students learn to round any whole number to the nearest ten using a number line and place value understanding. They identify the two nearest tens, determine which one is closer, and apply the rounding rule for the midpoint (round up). They practice with two- and three-digit numbers.

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Grade 3 · Rounding Whole Numbers · question 1 of 3

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12 rungs. A star at the top.

25 ≈ (nearest ten)

How it is taught

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Rounding to 10 means the closest ten.

Neighboring tens hug the number on a line.

Read it: Rounding to tens or hundreds

66 sits between 60 and 70. It is past the halfway point, 65, so it rounds to 70. Rounding to the nearest hundred works the same way, with hundreds.

Find the two tens, or the two hundreds, the number sits between.
Find the halfway point between them.
Past halfway rounds up. Halfway rounds up too. Before halfway rounds down.

Counting by ones from 60 up to 66 works, but it is slow and you can lose your place.

One jump of 4 from 66 lands on 70, so you skip the leftover ones.

65 is halfway. Past it, the nearer ten is 70, not 60.

If you sit on the middle or past it, round up to the higher ten or hundred.

Seeing 66 start with 6 and rounding down to 60.

Look at the ones. 6 is past 5, so 66 jumps to 70, not back to 60.

Round 17 to the nearest 10. — 20. 17 sits between 10 and 20, and halfway is 15. It is nearer 20.

Round 47 to the nearest 10

Let's round forty-seven to the nearest ten. Rounding helps us guess close numbers quickly.

First, find the two tens that hug forty-seven. It sits between forty and fifty.

Here's a number line from forty to fifty, with each tick standing for one.

Forty-seven goes right here, seven jumps past forty.

The middle is forty-five. Numbers past the middle are closer to fifty.

Forty-seven is past the middle, so it's closer to fifty than to forty.

We can also check the ones digit. Seven is five or more, so we round up.

Grade 3 · Using a number line to round

Forty-seven rounded to the nearest ten is fifty. Great rounding!

What you see

While they climb, your page writes one true line to ask about tonight, and a short note each Sunday.

MayaGrade 3 · Mathematics

Did you know?

A chessboard has 64 squares — share them out between the 8 rows and each row holds exactly 8.

Today’s goal: 1 star — one skill mastered, every rung of its ladder climbed
Climbing now: Divide within 100

An example student.

MayaGrade 3 · Mathematics

Maya earned 2 stars this week — Interpret multiplication as equal groups, which took 6 answers over 3 days before its star landed 3 days ago and Multiply by 6, 7, 8 and 9. Next up: Divide within 100.

An example week.

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