Ravi and Meera's Mango Stall

Ravi and his sister Meera sell sweet mangoes at their little stall. Let's help them count their money! In the morning, a customer pays Ravi with coins. Here is the money he got. Count along with me. Ravi has ten rupees, five rupees and two rupees. That makes seventeen rupees.

Now Meera sells a big basket of mangoes and gets more money. She gets eight rupees. Let's put Ravi's money and Meera's money together. This is called adding. Ravi made seventeen rupees. Meera made eight rupees. Let's add them step by step.

• Adding means putting together

First, add three to seventeen. That makes twenty. We still have five more to add.

Twenty plus five more is twenty-five. Together they made twenty-five rupees!

Here are the twenty-five rupees as coins. Count them with me. Now the story changes. Ravi needs to buy a new basket. The basket costs ten rupees. Subtracting means taking away. They had twenty-five rupees and spend ten.

• Spending money = subtracting

Take away one ten from twenty-five. What is left is fifteen rupees.

Look at the money that is left. Fifteen rupees is ten and five. Later, a little girl buys three mangoes. Each mango costs five rupees. Five and five and five.

So they get fifteen more rupees. Now they have fifteen plus fifteen. That is thirty rupees!

Here are Ravi and Meera's thirty rupees. Three tens make thirty. Careful with one common mistake! When we subtract, the answer gets smaller, not bigger. Remember, add when money comes in. Subtract when money goes out.

• Subtract: answer gets smaller

Let's try a new one. Meera has twelve rupees and sells a mango for six rupees. How much does she have now? Another one! Ravi has twenty rupees and buys a bag for seven rupees. How much is left? Great job! Add when money comes in, subtract when money goes out, and Ravi and Meera's stall will do well!

• In = add, Out = subtract