Multiplication arrays

How many counters are in this messy pile? You could count them one by one, but that's slow, and it's easy to lose your place. Watch what happens when we line them up!

Now there are three rows, with four counters in each row. That's three equal groups of four. Count by fours: four, eight, twelve! So three times four equals twelve.

When we line things up in equal rows and columns, it's called an array. Rows go across, like a line of kids. Columns go up and down, like a tower.

Here's a trick. Let's turn the array on its side. Now it has four rows of three. Four times three is still twelve! You can multiply in either order, and the answer stays the same.

Arrays are everywhere! An egg carton is two rows of six. A muffin tin is three rows of four. This window has two rows of three panes, and this chocolate bar is four rows of five. That's twenty squares!

Arrays help with tricky facts, too. What is six times seven? Six rows of seven is a big array. So split it into two colours: six times five, and six times two. Thirty plus twelve makes forty two!

So remember! Multiplying means adding equal groups. An array shows rows times columns. And you can turn it or split it to make multiplying easier.