📖 Part 1: Maya's Money Story

Read this story carefully:

Maya wanted to buy a new bike. She saved $405 in her piggy bank. Her little brother Sam only saved $45. Maya's mom explained that the zero in Maya's money meant she had 4 hundreds, 0 tens, and 5 ones. Without that zero, her $405 would become just $45 like Sam's money!

1. Circle the zeros in these amounts from the story:

$405 $45 $203 $73

2. Which amount is bigger?

$405

$45

3. What does the zero in $405 tell us?

There are 0 tens

There are 0 hundreds

There are 0 ones

✏️ Part 2: Create Your Own Story

4. Write a short story using these numbers with zeros as placeholders:

Choose two numbers: 304, 607, 720, 508

5. Draw base-ten blocks or pictures to show one of your numbers:

Draw hundreds as large squares, tens as long rectangles, ones as small squares

6. Write your number in expanded form:

My number: _______

Expanded form: _____ + _____ + _____

🧠 Part 3: Zero Detective

7. Look at these number pairs. Check all the ones where zero makes a difference:

302 and 32

450 and 45

123 and 123

607 and 67

8. Explain why zeros are important in numbers:

9. Challenge: Create the largest 3-digit number you can using the digits 4, 0, and 7:

My number: _______

This number means: _____ hundreds, _____ tens, _____ ones

Zeros as Placeholders

Zeros as Placeholders

📖 Part 1: Maya's Money Story

✏️ Part 2: Create Your Own Story

🧠 Part 3: Zero Detective

About This Worksheet

Free in Kuraplan

Print-Ready

AI-Generated

For Teachers & Parents

Need a custom version of this worksheet?

More Mathematics Worksheets

Year 9 Financial Mathematics

Year 9 Financial Mathematics

Mathematics and Statistics Practice

Explore more free resources