Two hurling matches on the same weekend. One drew a crowd of 4,260. The other drew 4,209. Which match had more people in the stands?

These two numbers look almost the same. Have a good look. Which one is bigger, and which digit gave it away?

To compare two numbers, start at the biggest column on the left and work right. As soon as you reach a column where the digits differ, that column decides it. Here are four pairs: 3,000 and 800, 5,400 and 5,700, 6,231 and 6,238, and 2,090 and 2,900. The blocks show the bigger number of each pair, so look at which column settles each comparison.

Today we work through these pairs together, dropping the correct sign (< or >) between each: 2,000 and 950, then 5,100 and 5,600, then 4,260 and 4,209, then 7,452 and 7,456, and finally 3,080 and 3,800. Each time we say which column decided it out loud before we agree.