Math Story : Number comparison using less than, greater than and equal to

Max The Number Alligator

It is a bright and beautiful day. All the kids want to go on a picnic. They go to Uncle Math and request him to take them out. “Children, I have a lot of work today. Let us go some other day”, he says. Refusing to listen, the kids force him more. Finally, he agrees to take them to a nearby lake. Everybody is excited.

The lake has big green trees, and many colourful flowers, the sun is shining bright, and the water is calm as a sleeping beauty. “WOW!” utter the kids. The mesmerizing beauty of the lake is eye pleasing. They roam around to explore more. 

Suddenly, a huge alligator comes out of the water with a loud splash. Cirho starts shivering. They all run and hide behind Uncle Math.“W..Wh…Who are you?” questions Uncle Math nervously. 

“I am Max the Number Alligator. This is my lake. I take the visitors on a tour of my underwater world and make them happy. Come join me”, replies the alligator and bends so that everybody can climb his back. “What if he eats us off in the name of a tour? No, let us go home. Run everybody”, whispers Cirha. 

Following Cirha’s instruction, everybody tries to run. But the alligator scares them and forces them to take the tour.

Left with no other option, everybody boards his back anxiously. 

“I unlock the doors of my world by eating the greater number. More you feed me the correct numbers, you can explore my world better. But, if you fail to do so then you might get stuck in there forever”, warns Max before diving underwater. Everybody is even more scared and nervous now. 

Max swiftly dives underwater carrying everyone. “Wow! The underwater world is equally colourful. There are so many types of big and small fish. The underwater plants look so different yet pretty”, says Cirha. The kids are astonished to see the beauty of the underwater world. 

Soon the first door arrives. Max stands near the door. “Time to feed me. Which number should I eat?“ he asks.

There are two shells. One on top with 5 pearls and another one on the bottom with 7 pearls. “Which shell shall I eat?” asks Max. Squarho panics and asks Max to eat the shell with 5 pearls. Max gets furious. “I will give you one last chance, otherwise be ready to stay here forever”, he says. Triho asks Squarho to keep quiet and stay calm.

“Children, look inside the number shells carefully. The shell with the number 7 has seven pearls. And the shell with the number 5 has five pearls. Which shell has more pearls?” says Uncle Math. “The number 7 shell”, answers Triho quickly.

“Yes correct. So number 7 is greater than number 5”, says Uncle Math. They order Max to eat the number 7 shell, and the door opens. Max is elated and the kids are relieved.

Behind the door, there were so many shells with beautiful and shining pearls. 

Soon, the next door arrives. This time it has two shells with the numbers 4 and 8.

“There are 4 pearls in one shell and 8 pearls in the other shell. The shell with 8 pearls has more pearls than the other shell. This means number 8 is greater than number 4 and number 4 is less than number 8. Eat the shell with 8 pearls Max”, orders Cirha. Thudd! The door opens immediately. 

This time the door takes them to another beautiful side of the underwater world full of shells. 

Soon the last door arrives. This door has two starfish with the number 5. “Oh no! Both the numbers are the same here. What will we do now?” says Cirho. He is confused. 

“Both the starfish have the number 5. That means they are equal. Max you can eat both of them as number 5 is equal to number 5”, answers Triho.

Max smiles hearing this. “Fantastic! Your answer is right. I am impressed. These starfish are my friends, and I cannot eat them. But I will definitely open the door for you guys so that you can walk back home”, he says.

Soon Max brings them out of the lake. 

“I am sorry for my rude behaviour. I just wanted to be your friend so that you could come and meet me often”, apologises Max. “That is alright. Today we made a new friend and had fun exploring the underwater world. We would like to visit again says Cirho. Uncle Math and others agree with him and say goodbye to Max. What an adventurous day it was!

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We Learnt That…

• We can easily compare the numbers using symbol > , < , =.
• ‘>’ means greater than, ‘<’ means less than, and ‘=’ means equal to. 
• We should not misuse our power and strength to get something.
• When we are honest in accepting our mistakes and offering apologies, it makes our relationships stronger.

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Let’s Discuss

• What was the name of the alligator?
• How did we choose the greater number to feed the alligator? 
• Max used his strength to scare us. Is it okay to do so? Why or why not? 
• When Max asked us to climb his back, Cirha quickly predicted the consequence and took a decision. Should we also do the same in real life?
• Max confesses and offers apologies in the end. Does that make Max good? Have you ever done something similar?

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• Number Comparision