Lesson 9.

7
Name
Compare Decimals Number and Operations—
Essential Question How can you compare decimals? Fractions—4.NF.C.7
MATHEMATICAL PRACTICES
MP2, MP4, MP6

Unlock
Unlock the
the Problem
Problem
The city park covers 0.64 square mile.
About 0.18 of the park is covered by water, • Cross out unnecessary information.
and about 0.2 of the park is covered by • Circle numbers you will use.
paved walkways. Is more of the park covered by • What do you need to find?
water or paved walkways?

One Way Use a model.

Shade 0.18. Shade 0.2.

0.18 ● 0.2

Other Ways
A Use a number line.

Locate 0.18 and 0.2 on a number line.

Think: 2 tenths is equivalent to 20 hundredths.

0.0 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50

_ is closer to 0, so 0.18 ● 0.2. Math

Talk MATHEMATICAL PRACTICES 6

B Compare equal-size parts. Compare How does the number

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

of tenths in 0.18 compare to the

number of tenths in 0.2? Explain.
• 0.18 is _ hundredths.

• 0.2 is 2 tenths, which is equivalent to _ hundredths.

18 hundredths ● 20 hundredths, so 0.18 ● 0.2.

So, more of the park is covered by ___
_.

Chapter 9 533
 Place Value You can compare numbers written as
decimals by using place value. Comparing decimals
is like comparing whole numbers. Always compare
the digits in the greatest place-value position first.

Example Use place value.

Tim has 0.5 dollar, and Sienna has 0.05 dollar.
Who has more money?
MODEL RECORD

Tim Sienna

Ones . Tenths Hundredths

. Tim

. Sienna

Think: The digits in the ones place are the same.

Compare the digits in the tenths place.
So, _ has more money. 5 tenths ● 0 tenths, so 0.5 ● 0.05.
• Compare the size of 1 tenth to the size of 1 hundredth. How could this help
you compare 0.5 and 0.05? Explain.

Try This! Compare 1.3 and 0.6. Write <, >, or =.

1.3 ● 0.6
Shade to model 1.3. Shade to model 0.6. © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Math MATHEMATICAL PRACTICES 7

Talk
Look for Structure How
could you use place value
to compare 1.3 and 0.6?

534
 Name
MATH
M
Share
Share and
and Show
hhow
Sh BOARD
B

1. Compare 0.39 and 0.42. Write <, >, or =.

Shade the model to help.

0.39 ● 0.42
0.39 0.42
Compare. Write <, >, or =.
2. 0.26 ● 0.23 3. 0.7 ● 0.54
Ones . Tenths Hundredths Ones . Tenths Hundredths
. .
. .

4. 1.15 ● 1.3 5. 4.5 ● 2.89

Ones . Tenths Hundredths Ones . Tenths Hundredths
. .
. .

Math MATHEMATICAL PRACTICES 2

Talk
On
On Your
Your Own
Own Reason Abstractly Can you compare
0.39 and 0.42 by comparing only the
tenths? Explain.
Compare. Write <, >, or =.
6. 0.9 ● 0.81 7. 1.06 ● 0.6 8. 0.25 ● 0.3 9. 2.61 ● 3.29
MATHEMATICAL
PRACTICE 2 Reason Quantitatively Compare. Write <, >, or =.
10. 0.30 ● 103__ 4
11. ___
100 ● 0.2 12. 0.15 ● 101 __ 13. 1_
8 ● 0.8
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

14. DEEPER Robert had $14.53 in his pocket. Ivan had $14.25 in
his pocket. Matt had $14.40 in his pocket. Who had more money,
Robert or Matt? Did Ivan have more money than either Robert
or Matt?

Chapter 9 • Lesson 7 535

 MATHEMATICAL PRACTICES COMMUNICA5&
t
1&34E7&3&
t
CONSTRUCT ARGUMENTS

Unlock
Unlock the
the Problem
Problem

15. SMARTER Ricardo and Brandon ran a 1500-meter race.

Ricardo finished in 4.89 minutes. Brandon finished in 4.83
minutes. What was the time of the runner who finished first?

a. What are you asked to find?–

b. What do you need to do to find the answer?–

c. Solve the problem. d. What was the time of the runner who
finished first?

e. Look back. Does your answer make sense?

Explain.

WRITE M
t Show Your Work

Math

  
  
16. DEEPER The Venus flytrap closes in
17. SMARTER For numbers
0.3 second and the waterwheel plant closes
in 0.2 second. What decimal is halfway 17a–17c, select True or False for the
between 0.2 and 0.3? Explain. inequality.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

17a. 0.5 > 0.53 True False

17b. 0.35 < 0.37 True False

17c. $1.35 > $0.35 True False

536
 Practice and Homework
Name
Lesson 9.7
Compare Decimals
COMMON CORE STANDARDS—4.NF.C.7
Understand decimal notation for fractions,
and compare decimal fractions.
Compare. Write <, >, or =.
1. 0.35 < 0.53 2. 0.6 0.60 3. 0.24 0.31

Think: 3 tenths is less

than 5 tenths.
So, 0.35 < 0.53

4. 0.94 0.9 5. 0.3 0.32 6. 0.45 0.28 7. 0.39 0.93

Use the number line to compare. Write true or false.

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0

8. 0.8 > 0.78 9. 0.4 > 0.84 10. 0.7 < 0.70 11. 0.4 > 0.04

Compare. Write true or false.

12. 0.09 > 0.1 13. 0.24 = 0.42 14. 0.17 < 0.32 15. 0.85 > 0.82

Problem
Problem Solving
Solving
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

16. Kelly walks 0.7 mile to school. Mary walks 17. WRITE Math Show or describe two
0.49 mile to school. Write an inequality using different ways to complete the comparison
<, >, or = to compare the distances they using <, >, or =: 0.26 0.4.
walk to school.

Chapter 9 537
Lesson Check (4.NF.C.7)
1. Bob, Cal, and Pete each made a stack of 2. Three classmates spent money at the
baseball cards. Bob’s stack was 0.2 meter school supplies store. Mark spent 0.5 dollar,
high. Cal’s stack was 0.24 meter high. Pete’s Andre spent 0.45 dollar, and Raquel spent
stack was 0.18 meter high. Write a number 0.52 dollar. Write a number sentence that
sentence that compares Cal’s stack of cards compares the money Andre spent to the
to Pete’s stack of cards. money that Mark spent.

Spiral Review (4.NF.B.3c, 4.NF.B.4c , 4.NF.C.5)

3. Pedro has $0.35 in his pocket. Alice has 4. The measure 62 centimeters is equivalent
$0.40 in her pocket. How much money to ___
62
100 meter. What is this measure written as
do Pedro and Alice have altogether? a decimal?

5. Joel has 24 sports trophies. Of the trophies, 6. Molly’s jump rope is 6 1_3 feet long. Gail’s
_1are soccer trophies. How many soccer jump rope is 4 2_3 feet long. How much longer
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
8
trophies does Joel have? is Molly’s jump rope?

FOR MORE PRACTICE

GO TO THE
538 Personal Math Trainer