Rounding Significant Figures

Rounding to ... significant figures means that you are only interested in the first ... digits that make up a number.

You might need to round a number to the nearest 10, 100, 1000, etc., or you might need to round it to 1, 2 or even 3 decimal places.

Often when you are dealing with numbers in the real world, you do not need to know the exact answer but simply an approximation.

Rounding to 1 significant figure will give you a rough approximation of what the answer is.

Rounding to 2 significant figures will give you a reasonable approximation of your answer and it is usually enough for most quantities where you do not have to be exact.

Rounding to 3 significant figures will give you a very close approximation of your answer and it is usually the most precise that you will need to be for everyday working out.

Want to test yourself to see how well you have understood this concept?.

• Try our NEW quick quiz at the bottom of this page.

Rounding to significant figures is different from rounding to decimal places.

The first significant figure is the first non-zero digit a number has.

The second significant figure is the digit after the 1st significant figure.

The third significant figure is the digit after the 2nd significant figure, and so on.

See below for help to round a number to a set number of significant figures.

Here you will find a range of free printable rounding worksheets to help your child learn to round numbers to either 1,2 or 3 significant figures.

These sheets are carefully graded so that the easier sheets come first and give extra support.

Each sheet comes with a separate printable answer sheet.

Using these sheets will help your child to:

• round numbers to the nearest 1,2 or 3 significant figures.

All the free Rounding Worksheets in this section support the Elementary Math Benchmarks.

The rounding numbers worksheets in this section involve rounding numbers to the nearest 10.

They are at a more basic level than those on this page.

In our Rounding Practice zone, you can practice rounding a range of numbers. You can round numbers to the nearest 10, 100 or even 1000. Want to round numbers to the nearest decimal place, you can do that too!

Select the numbers you want to practice with, and print out your results when you have finished.

You can also use the practice zone for benchmarking your performance, or using it with a group of children to gauge progress.

Here is our generator for generating your own rounding off numbers worksheets.

Our generator will create the following worksheets:

• rounding off to the nearest 10, 100, 1000 or 10000
• rounding to the nearest whole, to 1dp, or 2dp.
• rounding off to 1sf, 2sf or 3sf

Here is our rounding challenges collection which will give your child an opportunity to apply their rounding learning.

The challenges can be tackled individually or with a partner.

Each challenge involves using rounding knowledge and properties of numbers to work out the correct answer.

Using these sheets will help your child to:

• apply their knowledge of rounding to the nearest 10, 100 or 1000;
• develop their problem solving skills;
• develop their understanding about place value and properties of numbers.

All the rounding challenges support elementary math benchmarks.

• Rounding Numbers Worksheet Challenges

On this webpage, you will find a larger selection of our rounding decimals challenges.

The challenges involve rounding numbers to the nearest 1, 0.1 or 0.01.

Each challenge involves using rounding knowledge and properties of numbers to work out the correct answer.

Using these sheets will help your child to:

• apply their knowledge of rounding to the nearest one, tenth or hundredth;
• develop their problem solving skills;
• develop their understanding about decimal place value and properties of numbers.

All the rounding challenges support elementary math benchmarks.

• Rounding Decimals Worksheet Challenges

Here you will find a range of Free Printable 4th Grade Decimal Place Value Worksheets.

The following worksheets involve using and understanding decimal notation - tenths and hundredths.

Using these sheets will help your child to:

• Understand decimals;
• Use place value notation with tenths and hundredths;
• Know how to read and write numbers to 10 million;
• Understand place value to 10 million.

All the Free 4th Grade Math Worksheets in this section are informed by the Elementary Math Benchmarks for 4th Grade.

The Math Salamanders hope you enjoy using these free printable Math worksheets and all our other Math games and resources.

We welcome any comments about our site or worksheets on the Facebook comments box at the bottom of every page.