Taking away

Five mangoes on the table, and someone is hungry!

Here are five yummy mangoes in a basket. Let us count them together. Taking away means some things go, and fewer things are left behind.

Now Meena eats two mangoes. Watch, two mangoes are crossed out. Let us count the mangoes that are left. One, two, three. Three mangoes are left! We can write it with numbers. We use a minus sign for taking away.

• 5 take away 2 is 3

Let us try with balloons. Six red balloons are tied together. Pop! Four balloons burst and fly away. Four are crossed out. How many balloons are left? Count the ones that are not crossed out. Two!

You can use your own fingers too. Show eight fingers, then fold down three.

Eight take away three leaves five. Taking away always makes the number smaller.

What if we take away nothing? Four apples stay four apples.

Now you try. Look at the birds. Seven birds sit on a tree, and two fly away. How many birds are left on the tree? Taking away means some go, we count what is left, and the minus sign shows it.

• Take away = fewer left