Alligator Lunch

Once there was a huge alligator named Allie.

Allie was very selfish and did not like to share her lunch.

When getting hungry, Allie always ate the biggest fish in the lake.

She would just open her big mouth and munch the largest fish around.

Just like Allie’s big mouth, the greater than symbol looks like it is always eating the largest number.

> means greater than

27 is greater than 14
or
27 > 14

Find the greater than key on your keyboard. It’s on the key with the period. Hold the shift down and touch the greater than symbol to complete this number sentence.

168 is greater than 105

Click the fish for a hint.

168		105

Since we must always read left to right, sometimes the less than symbol is used. We can turn the > symbol around to point out that one number is smaller than another. We call this the less than symbol. To show that 56 is less than 124 we write:

56 is less than 124
or
56 < 124

See, Allie is still eating
the largest number.
Look which way her mouth is open.

Remember that Allie always eats the largest number.

Find the less than key on your keyboard. It’s on the key with the comma. Hold the shift down and touch the less than symbol to complete this number sentence.

1,620 is less than 3,421

1,620		3,421

Click the fish
for a hint.

AN01304_.WMF (29236 bytes)

Let’s swim down the river and eat some lunch with Allie. Remember to always eat the largest number.