MLC Number Pieces

The application provides digital versions of base ten blocks, including units, rods, and mats, which pupils can drag, group, and manipulate on a virtual workspace. Users can model addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division operations, explore place value concepts, and demonstrate regrouping by breaking apart or combining pieces.

The tool includes annotation features such as drawing, writing equations, and adding text labels, allowing pupils to record their mathematical thinking alongside their visual representations. Developed by The Math Learning Center, a non-profit educational organisation, Number Pieces is one of a suite of free mathematics applications designed to support primary and early secondary mathematics instruction.

The application runs in web browsers and is also available as downloadable apps for tablets and desktop computers, making it suitable for classroom whiteboard demonstrations, individual pupil practice, and remote learning contexts. Teachers commonly use the tool to introduce concrete-representational-abstract approaches to number concepts, while pupils use it to build understanding of the base ten number system.