Subtraction of Natural Numbers (Lesson 3 of 18)

This lesson plan, from the Contextualize to Learn project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is an exploration done with base-ten blocks. In this activity, students are paired up and work to define subtraction as taking apart and taking from. Students will also discuss subtracting two and three digit numbers, and when it is necessary to decompose tens and hundreds. This lesson plan includes both student and instructor notes. Additional lessons in the series are available to view separately. This lesson requires the following manipulatives: Base-Ten blocks.

The expected total time for the lesson is 55 minutes.