Three-digit subtraction with Regrouping-base ten blocks
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Subtraction with Regrouping using base Ten Blocks
Subtraction with large numbers might seem confusing. Luckily, there is help! You can visualise subtraction with 3 digit numbers using base ten blocks. This text teaches you how to use base ten blocks to conduct subtraction with regrouping.
Modelling Subtraction with Regrouping using Base Ten Blocks
Why do we use base ten blocks for subtraction 3 digit numbers with regrouping? Modelling subtraction with base ten blocks helps us to see what is happening when we subtract. Rather than just moving digits, we can build and break apart numbers to see how values change. It is particularly helpful when we are regrouping. We build the first number in blocks to make the subtraction equation easier to regroup, or borrow from.
Subtraction with Regrouping using base Ten Blocks – Example
Let’s have a look at examples of subtraction with regrouping. Here we have six hundred and seventy one minus fifty eight.
In a place value chart, represent the first number, six hundred and seventy-one, with base ten blocks. The second number, fifty-eight, tells us how many to take away from six hundred and seventy-one.
Starting in the ones column, the second number tells us to take away eight blocks.We can't do that because there is only one block here.
We need to regroup a set of ten from the tens place.There are now eleven blocks in the ones place that we can take eight away from. We are left with three blocks, so write three below.
Now move to the tens place.The second number tells us to subtract five tens.Take away five from the six tens which leaves us with one ten. Write the number one below.
Now move to the hundreds place.There are no hundreds to take away, so write the number six below. Six hundred and seventy one minus fifty eight equals six hundred and thirteen.
Subtraction with Regrouping using base Ten Blocks – Summary of Steps
These are the necessary steps you need to follow in order to conduct three digit number subtraction with regrouping using base ten blocks.
| Step # | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Model the first number with base ten blocks in a place value chart. |
| 2 | Look at the second number and identify its ones place. Begin taking away from the ones place first and regrouping from the tens place, if needed. Write the answer below. |
| 3 | Move left to the next place value, repeating the process to solve the equation. |
| 4 | If you need to regroup but there is a zero, move left to the next place value until you can regroup! |
Do you want to have a go at some subtraction practice with regrouping? On this website, you can also find 3 digit subtraction with regrouping base ten blocks worksheets and exercises.
Transcript Three-digit subtraction with Regrouping-base ten blocks
"Dear Imani, I've had so much fun whilst I've been camping!" "We have camp fires every night!" "The wood pile had six hundred and seventy one logs, and we've burned fifty eight so far, so there are, erm..." "What do I do?!" Let's help Mr. Squeaks by learning "Three Digit Subtraction with Regrouping-Base Ten Blocks' We can use place value charts and base ten blocks to model subtraction with regrouping. These tools help us to see what's happening when we regroup rather than just moving numbers around. We build the first number in blocks to make the subtraction equation easier to regroup, or borrow from. Let's use the camp fire equation to practice. In a place value chart, represent the first number, six hundred and seventy-one, with base ten blocks. The second number, fifty-eight, tells us how many to take away from six hundred and seventy-one. Starting in the ones column, the second number tells us to take away eight blocks. We can't do that because there is only one block here. We need to REGROUP a set of ten from the tens place. There are now eleven blocks in the ones place that we can take eight away from. We are left with three blocks, so write three below. Now move to the tens place. The second number tells us to subtract five tens. Take away five from the six tens which leaves us with one ten. Write the number one below. Now move to the hundreds place. There are no hundreds to take away, so write the number six below. Six hundred and seventy one minus fifty eight equals six hundred and thirteen. Mr. Squeaks can write that there are six hundred and thirteen logs left for the camp fires! Next, Mr. Squeaks writes that there were two hundred and three water balloons for a water balloon fight. By the end, one hundred and eighty nine were thrown. Let's help calculate how many balloons were left. What is our first step? Use base ten blocks to represent two hundred and three. The second number, one hundred and eighty-nine, tells us how many we take away from it. In the ONES column, how many blocks will we subtract from three? According to the second number, we SHOULD subtract nine, but, we can't do that because there are only three blocks. What can we do? We can REGROUP a set of ten from the tens place. But there are ZERO tens HERE! What should we do? Instead, we should move to the hundreds to regroup. Regroup one hundreds block from the hundreds and put it in the tens place. Now take a set of ten from HERE, regrouping it to the ones place. There are now THIRTEEN blocks in the ones place that we can take nine away from. We have four blocks left, so write four below. Then, move to the tens place. The second number tells us to take eight tens away. Eight taken away from nine leaves us with one. Write one below. Now move to the hundreds place. We borrowed from here earlier, so there is only one hundred left. The second number tells us to take one hundred away which makes ZERO hundreds. Below, leave the hundreds place blank, so "two hundred and three" minus "one hundred and eighty nine" equals fourteen. Mr. Squeaks writes that there were only fourteen water balloons left in the end!
To subtract three digit numbers with regrouping, remember: Model the first number with base ten blocks in a place value chart. Next, look at the second number and identify its ones place. Begin taking away from the ones place first and regrouping from the tens place, if needed. Write the answer below. Move left to the next place value, repeating the process to solve the equation. If you need to regroup but there is a zero, move left to the next place value until you CAN regroup!
"That's weird. Who uses real wood for a camp fire?" "And throwing water!? How dangerous! Someone will definitely short circuit!"
Three-digit subtraction with Regrouping-base ten blocks exercise
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How many marshmallows are left?
HintsIf there are not enough ones to subtract from, you can re-group a ten to the ones.
We can see a ten has been re-grouped into the ones place, so we can now subtract 7 from 12.
Use the base ten blocks to help you solve the rest of the problem.
SolutionAt the end of day one they had 305 marshmallows left.
362-57
- First of all, we needed to subtract 7 from the ones place, however, there were only 2 ones so we re-grouped a ten from the tens place.
- We therefore had 12 ones. 12 - 7 = 5 so we can write 5 in the ones place.
- We then needed to subtract 5 from the tens place.
- There were 5 tens in the tens place, so 5 - 5 = 0, so we can write 0 in the tens place.
- We move to the hundreds place where there are three hundreds but nothing to subtract, so we write 3 in the hundreds place.
- This gives us the answer: 305.
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Which jar should the marshmallows go in?
HintsRemember, re-group from the place value to the left if you don't have enough to subtract from.
You can draw out your own base 10 blocks to help you solve the problem.
Once we have subtracted the ones, we need to re-group a hundred to the tens column to be able to subtract 7 from 15 to get 8.
SolutionThey have 81 marshmallows left so should store them in this jar!
255 - 174
- First of all, we need to subtract 4 from the ones.
- 5 - 4 = 1, so we write 1 in the ones place.
- We then need to subtract 7 tens but we only have 5 tens, so we re-group a hundred so then have 15 tens.
- 15 - 7 = 8 so we write 8 in the tens place.
- We now need to subtract a hundred from the hundreds where there is only one hundred left, so we are left with zero hundreds.
- The answer is therefore 81.
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How much food does the camp have left?
HintsYou can draw your own base ten blocks to help you solve the problems.
Remember, you can re-group from the tens or hundreds if you need to.
SolutionHere are the amounts of each food they have left:
672 - 484
- We first need to subtract the ones but there are not enough, so we re-group a ten and have 12 ones.
- 12 - 4 = 8, so write 8 in the ones column.
- We then need to subtract the tens but there are not enough, so we re-group a hundred.
- 16 - 8 = 8, so write 8 in the tens place.
- We then subtract 4 hundreds from 5 hundreds to get 1 hundred, so write 1 in the hundreds place.
- Therefore our answer is 188.
- First, we subtract the ones but need to re-group a ten to do so, giving us 12 ones.
- 12 - 9 = 3, so we write 3 in the ones place.
- We then subtract the tens but need to re-group a hundred to do so, giving us 10 tens.
- 10 - 9 = 1, so we write 1 in the tens place.
- We then have 2 hundreds - 1 hundred which equals 1 hundred, so we write 1 in the hundreds place.
- Our answer is therefore 113.
- First, we subtract the ones but need to re-group a ten to do so, however there are zero tens so we re-group a hundred, then re-group a ten giving us 14 ones.
- 14 - 7 = 7, so we write 7 in the ones place.
- We then subtract the tens which we now have 9 of, after re-grouping the hundred earlier.
- 9 - 8 = 1, so we write 1 in the tens place.
- We then have 5 hundreds - 3 hundreds which equals 2 hundreds, so we write 2 in the hundreds place.
- Our answer is therefore 217.
- First, we subtract the ones.
- 7 - 7 = 0 so we write 0 in the ones place.
- We then subtract the tens but need to re-group a hundred to do so, giving us ten tens.
- 10 - 9 = 1. so we write 1 in the tens place.
- We then have 3 hundreds - 1 hundred which equals 2 hundreds, so we write 2 in the hundreds place.
- Our answer is therefore 210.
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Solve the subtraction problems.
HintsRemember, you can draw your own base ten blocks to help you solve the problems.
Remember to re-group if needed.
Solution- Dear Mr. Squeaks,
- Altogether, we built 214 robots but unfortunately 137 short-circuited! Now we only have 77 left.
- We tried to fix the ones that broke! We had 302 nails and ended up using 277! We only have 25 left now.
- We also had an inventing competition! We were given 345 minutes to create something new. It took me 296 minutes to complete my creation so I had 49 minutes to spare!
- It has been great! Looking forward to seeing you soon, Imani
P.S. I think we need to do some shopping when we get home. We had 601 screws but I brought 474 with me so we only have 127 left now!
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How many screws are left at Imani's camp?
HintsTo subtract the ones, you will need to re-group a ten like this.
Can you subtract 28 from these base ten blocks?
SolutionThey have 304 screws left.
332 - 28
- First of all, we need to subtract the ones but there are not enough, so we need to re-group a ten. We then have 12 ones.
- 12 - 8 = 4, so we write 4 in the ones column.
- We then have 2 tens left in the tens column. We need to subtract 2 tens, so 2 - 2 = 0, so we write 0 in the tens column.
- We have no hundreds to subtract, so we write 3 in the hundreds column as 3 - 0 = 3.
- Therefore our answer is 304.
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How many logs are left now?
HintsThere are multiple subtraction problems to solve here. Solve them one at a time, re-grouping where needed.
You can draw out your own base ten blocks to help you.
SolutionThere are 289 logs left after day three.
- They started with 902 logs and burned 183 on day one.
- 902 - 183 = 719.
- We then need to subtract 234 (logs burned on day two) from 719.
- 719 - 234 = 485.
- On day three they burned 196 logs.
- 485 - 196 = 289.
