Multiplying and dividing decimals activities in 6th Grade

How to multiply decimals

As earlier mentioned, there is no significant difference in how to multiply decimals and whole numbers. So, when multiplying decimals, we need to;

First, add the number of digits after the decimal points in the question. This number of digits indicates how many decimal places you should have in your answer.

Next, perform your multiplication normally, as if it were whole numbers, i.e., ignoring the decimal points. When you obtain the product, it will have the same number of decimal places as those in the question.

How to divide decimals

Our interest for kids to engage in this resource is to teach how to divide decimals by whole numbers and whole numbers by decimal divisors using unique and short strategies different from decimal multiplication.

When dividing decimals by whole numbers, ignore the decimal point and perform your division normally. Put the decimal point in the quotient location directly above its position in the dividend.

When dividing whole numbers by decimal divisors, we must make the decimal divisor whole by multiplying both the decimal number and whole number by the power of 10s, or 100s, or 1000s, depending on the number of decimal places the decimal number has.

When we do this, our divisor will become whole, while our dividend will change to a larger number.

Hence, we can now perform our normal division process.