Welcome to third grade math! Today we'll learn about the four basic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Let's start with addition. When we add three dots plus two dots, we get five dots total. For multiplication, we can think of it as groups. Three groups of two squares gives us six squares in total.
Let's practice addition and subtraction with real examples. For addition, imagine Sarah has four red apples. Her friend gives her three green apples. When we put them together, she has seven apples total. For subtraction, Tom starts with eight orange cookies. He eats three cookies, shown in gray. Now he has five cookies left.
Multiplication is about equal groups. Emma has three bags, and each bag contains four marbles. To find the total, we multiply three times four, which equals twelve marbles. We can also arrange these marbles in an array with three rows and four columns. This shows us the same answer: twelve marbles total. We can also skip count by fours: four, eight, twelve.
Division means sharing things equally. Jake has twelve stickers and wants to share them equally among three friends. When we divide twelve by three, each friend gets four stickers. Division is the reverse of multiplication. Since three times four equals twelve, we know that twelve divided by three equals four.
To summarize what we have learned today: Addition means putting things together to find the total. Subtraction means taking things away to find what is left. Multiplication means making equal groups or arranging things in arrays. Division means sharing things equally among groups. These four basic operations help us solve many everyday math problems.