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Exploring whole numbers ( Number Operations & Number Theory )

Term    : 1 
Module : 1 - Capturing Data 
Unit 1      : Numbers Made Easy  (  History Of Numbers )
  Numbering System Of Early Man & The Babylonians

 
Early
Counting and Numbers		 Early man needed some way of knowing or keeping track of his possessions such as the amount of sheep he owned.
One method he used was that of using a pebble to represent each sheep he owned. Five pebbles would therefore represent five sheep.
Another means of representing numbers in the early days was by carving notches in sticks where each notch could represent an item.

As man developed the skill of writing, he needed symbols to represent the various amounts called numerals.
Babylonians were the first to used these symbols or numerals about 3,000 years ago, and carved them on sticks or stone as shown below.
These numerals representing various quantities such as five and four, has changed over time and today can be represented by the shapes "5" and "4".
 

  
Early Numerals 
 		  
Today
Bar Codes		 Bar codes are codes made up of black lines of various thickness and spacing used to represent numerals.
Today bar codes can be seen on almost every packaged item in retail outlets. These codes are not read or converted into numbers manually, but by computerised bar code scanners.
An example of bar code scanning can be seen in grocery stores where prices are entered into the register by passing the item with the visible bar code over a bar code scanner.
 		  
Inventing
Numerals
 		  

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