Learn about Inequalities 6th Grade – Worksheet Included

Inequalities mean two numbers are not equal. For instance, 5 and 6 are inequalities because they are not equal to one another.

In math, it’s important to understand inequalities, so you know when one value is greater than another one. Five is LESS THAN six, or six is GREATER THAN five. It all has to do with how those numbers are presented to you.

When you’re asked to look at inequalities to determine which one is greater and which one is less than, you are comparing those inequalities. This type of math is used in life regularly.

How People Use Inequalities in Life

 When you’re in the lunchroom, you may have five cookies in your lunch tote. You give two cookies to your friend, and you have three. Who has more cookies? You do, of course, because you have three and your friend has two. Coming to this conclusion, you can make a decision. You can either have more cookies than your friend, or you can throw the third cookie away, and then you and your friend would have the same number of cookies – an EQAUL number of cookies.

Showing Inequalities in Math

 To show inequalities in math, there are symbols that mean something is greater than or less than. The symbol is > or <.

The symbol points to the LOWER number. The opened part of the arrow goes towards the GREATER number.

How you can remember which symbol or which way to put the arrow is thinking of it as an alligator mouth. The alligator always wants to eat MORE food rather than less food. The mouth (opening) is the opening of the alligator’s mouth and should point to the number that is MORE than the other number.