Chapter 10: Elephants, Tigers, and Leopards

A herd of elephants, a stripe of tigers, a family of leopards. To count, share or group them , we use division.

What we'll learn

• Division as equal sharing and as repeated subtraction.
• Long division of 2-digit and 3-digit numbers.
• Handling remainders.
• The link between multiplication and division.

The big idea

Division answers two questions:

1. "How many in each group?" , when we know the number of groups.
2. "How many groups?" , when we know how big each group is.

Example: 12 mangoes shared among 4 children = 12 ÷ 4 = 3 mangoes each. Or, 12 mangoes packed in groups of 4 = 3 packs.

Division is repeated subtraction. From 12, take away 4. Twelve becomes 8. Take away 4 again. Eight becomes 4. One more time. We subtracted 3 times. So 12 ÷ 4 = 3.

Division and multiplication are partners. If 4 × 3 = 12, then 12 ÷ 3 = 4 and 12 ÷ 4 = 3.

Sometimes division doesn't go evenly. 13 ÷ 4 = 3 with 1 left over. That leftover is the remainder.

In long division, we work digit by digit from the left. For 84 ÷ 4: 8 ÷ 4 = 2; 4 ÷ 4 = 1. Answer = 21.

Explore with examples

1. Share 24 ladoos equally between 6 friends. How many each?

24 ÷ 6 = 4 ladoos each.

2. Divide 56 by 4 using long division.

   1 4
4 | 5 6
   -4
   ---
    1 6
   -1 6
   ---
     0

Answer = 14.

3. 25 ÷ 4 = ?

4 × 6 = 24. 25 − 24 = 1. So quotient = 6, remainder = 1.

4. A bus has 60 seats. 4 children sit on each bench. How many benches?

60 ÷ 4 = 15 benches.

Hands-on activities

Toffee Share

Take any number of toffees (try 20). Share between 3 friends , what's left? Now try 4 friends, then 5. When is there no remainder?

Subtraction Steps

Start with 30. Subtract 5 again and again, on paper. Count the steps until you reach 0. That count is 30 ÷ 5.

Tiger Reserve Map

Imagine 36 tigers. If each reserve can hold 9, how many reserves needed? If each holds 12? Make a table with the two answers.

Try it yourself

1. 48 ÷ 6 = ?
2. 75 ÷ 5 = ?
3. 100 ÷ 4 = ?
4. 23 ÷ 4: find the quotient and remainder.
5. A box has 84 pencils. Share equally among 7 students. How many each?
6. 96 mangoes packed in dozens (12s). How many boxes?
7. 50 children form rows of 8. How many full rows and how many leftover?

Recap

• Division = equal sharing or grouping.
• It's also repeated subtraction.
• A leftover is called a remainder.
• Division and multiplication are inverse partners.