Thousand Million Billion Trillion (classroom activity)
Comparing Thousand, Million, Billion, and Trillion
WorksheetTime-based Comparisons
Thousand
If you started counting 1, 2, 3, every second, it would take:
- ~16.6 minutes to count to 1 thousand
Million
Counting to 1 million seconds would take:
- 12 days from now, nearly two weeks
Billion
Counting to 1 billion seconds would take:
- Almost 32 years from now
Trillion
Counting to 1 trillion seconds would take:
- 31,688 years, 8 months, 25 days, 3 hours, 58 minutes, and 25 seconds
How to say the year 33712:
- Thirty-Three Thousand Seven Hundred Twelve
Distance-based Comparisons (Using Steps)
Assuming each step is about 2.5 feet long.
Thousand
Walking 1,000 steps at the assumed step length would be approximately:
- 0.25 feet, or 3 inches (use a ruler or a sheet of paper (short side) for visualization)
Million
Walking 1 million steps at the assumed step length would be approximately:
- 250 feet
Billion
Walking 1 billion steps at the assumed step length would be approximately:
- 47.35 miles (like walking to Nebraska City, NE)
It would take approximately 15.67 hours to walk 47 miles at an average walking pace of 3 miles per hour (not accounting for rest periods or children's slower pace).
If we started now, what time would we arrive?
Trillion
Walking 1 trillion steps at the assumed step length would be approximately:
- 47,350 miles (enough to walk around the Earth almost two times)
It would take approximately 1.8 years to walk non-stop for this distance.