What is Addition?

Addition means putting things together to find the total. We use the + sign for adding.

When we add, the answer is always bigger than the numbers we started with!

Putting Groups Together

3 red apples plus 4 green apples = how many altogether?

🍎 🍎 🍎

+

🍏 🍏 🍏 🍏

= 7

3 + 4 = 7 apples altogether!

Adding on a Number Line

To add 5 + 3, start at 5 and jump forward 3 times:

start

0

1

2

3

4

start here!

5

jump 1

6

jump 2

7

jump 3

8

9

10

5 + 3 = 8! We landed on 8.

Bar Model (Singapore Maths)

A bar model shows the parts and the total. Here is 6 + 3 = 9:

Total

9

Part

6

Part

3

6 + 3 = 9

Key Vocabulary

Add / Plus

To put together or combine. The + sign means add.

Equals

The = sign means "the same as". 3 + 4 = 7 means "3 plus 4 is the same as 7".

Total / Sum

The answer when you add numbers together. The total of 3 + 5 is 8.

Altogether

Another word for total. "How many altogether?" means "how many in total?"

Worked Examples

1

4 + 2 = ?

+

Step 1: Start with 4 red dots.

Step 2: Add 2 blue dots. Count on from 4: "5, 6".

Answer: 4 + 2 = 6!

2

8 + 5 = ? (using a number line)

Step 1: Start at 8 on the number line.

Step 2: Jump forward 5 times: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.

Answer: 8 + 5 = 13!

3

Tom has 7 sweets. He gets 6 more. How many now?

🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬

+

🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭

Step 1: Tom has 7 sweets. He gets 6 more.

Step 2: Count on from 7: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.

Answer: Tom now has 13 sweets! 7 + 6 = 13.

Knowledge Check

Pick the right answer and click "Check Answer"!

Question 1

Count the butterflies. What is 3 + 5?

🦋 🦋 🦋

+

🦋 🦋 🦋 🦋 🦋

7 8 9 6

Question 2

What is 6 + 7?

11 12 13 14

Question 3

Lily has 9 stickers. She gets 4 more. How many does she have now?

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

+

🌟🌟🌟🌟

12 11 14 13

Question 4

What is 10 + 8?

18 16 17 19

Question 5

There are 5 birds on a fence. 7 more birds come. How many birds are on the fence now?

🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦

+

🐥🐥🐥🐥🐥🐥🐥

11 12 13 10

Addition Within 20