NCERT Class 6 Mathematics Textbook for Blind Students made Screen Readable by Dr T K Bansal.

Counting things is easy for us now. We can count objects in large numbers, for example, the number of students in the school, and represent them through numerals. We can also communicate large numbers using suitable number names.

It is not as if we always knew how to convey large quantities in conversation or through symbols. Many thousands years ago, people knew only small numbers. Gradually, they learnt how to handle larger numbers. They also learnt how to express large numbers in symbols. All this came through collective efforts of human beings. Their path was not easy, they struggled all along the way. In fact, the development of whole of Mathematics can be understood this way:

"As human beings progressed, there was greater need for development of Mathematics and as a result Mathematics grew further and faster."

We use numbers and know many things about them. Numbers help us count concrete objects. They help us to say which collection of objects is bigger and arrange them in order e.g., first, second, etc. Numbers are used in many different contexts and in many ways. Think about various situations where we use numbers. List five distinct situations in which numbers are used.

We enjoyed working with numbers in our previous classes. We have added, subtracted, multiplied and divided them. We also looked for patterns in number sequences and done many other interesting things with numbers. In this chapter, we shall move forward on such interesting things with a bit of review and revision as well.