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Roman Numerals, I to MM

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Discovering Roman Numerals

Roman Numerals may be found where you least expect them. Look up at the clocks on public buildings and down on the cornerstones. Check out the copyright date of your favorite movie or book. You might even find roman numerals on your watch.

Learning the roman numerals can be lots of fun with hands-on games, activities and projects. Hop on your chariot and let's discover the roman numerals....

Roman Numeral Contents

Activities for Learning Roman Numerals

Photo Credit: Roman Numerals from Pier on Lake Michigan
on Flickr, Creative Commons.



Roman Numerals
  1. Roman Numerals
  2. Scavenger Hunt for Roman Numerals
  3. How to Make a Sundial
  6. Deviled Egg Clock with Roman Numerals
  7. Roman Numeral Bacon
  8. Roman Numerals are used in Music theory
  9. Games for Learning Roman Numerals
  10. Keeping Track of the Harvest
  11. Roman Numeral Birthday Candles!
  12. Roman Numeral Penguin and Iceberg Puzzle
  13. Roman Numeral Art
  14. Roman Numeral Jewelry
  15. Hornsby Water Clock with Roman Numerals
  16. Hornsby Water Sculpture
  17. Let's Chat about Roman Numerals

Roman Numerals

Introducing the Roman Numerals.

Roman         Arabic

I                   1
V                   5
X                   10
L                   50
C                  100
D                   500
M                   1,000
i                   1,000
v                   5,000
x                   10,000

l                   50,000
c                  100,000
d                   500,000
m                   1,000,000

Here are some of the very best picture books for introducing the Roman Numerals.

As I was writing this lens my 12 year old sat down and started reading Roman Numerals I to MM. At first she was concentrating on the pigs and then started noticing the roman numerals. She knew the ones up to X but surprisingly not the higher ones.

As we snuggled next to eachother we laughed at the antics of the pigs, discussed the roman numerals and how the system works and by the end of the book she understood the all and was happily off on a roman numeral scavenger hunt.

For visual learners, picture books are ideal for teaching any age. When a child is ready to learn a subject, the learning comes quickly and easily. The hard part for the adult is to wait.
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Going on a Scavenger Hunt for Roman Numerals

Searching for Roman Numerals

London I

Clock with Roman Numerals in London
Buy at AllPosters.com



Get out your digital camera and go on a scavenger hunt for roman numerals.

1.Look at the clocks on the tops of public buildings.
2. Look for plaques showing the dates that bridges were built.
3. Look for copyright dates for when books were written.

Roman Numerals are all around if you know where to look.

Draught Marks by GlasgowAmateur
Roman Numerals by spratmackrel
I I I by KJGarbutt
Concrete marker and leaf sprayed green by moonlightbulb
Old Clock by garlandcannon
automatically generated by Flickr

Scavenger Hunt for Roman Numerals

Where have you found Roman Numerals?

Roman Numeral Dice

Photo Credit: Roman Numeral Dice
on Flickr, Creative Commons.

1

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On a Clock

2 points

2

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In a table of contents in a book

1 point

3

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On Tarot Cards

1 point

How to Make a Sundial

Sundials often have Roman Numerals

Sundial with Roman Numeral

With easy to follow instructions you can create your own sundial. Use roman numerals to label the hours in the day. Roman Numerals are the traditional way of writing the numbers on the sundial. Roman Numerals in this activity go from 1 to 12.

Set a timer and ask the children to record the roman numerals that the shadow touches several times a day. Soon they will be able to quickly recognize Roman Numerals whenever they encounter them.
Make a sundial
With the sun shining it's the perfect time to make a sun dial. Follow our easy instructions and find out what life was like before we had watches and clocks!
Free Printable blank Roman Numerals Clock Face
Free Printable Clock Face Selection, From Numbers to Roman Numerals, Clock Face Blanks, Clock Face to Print, Make Telling Time Worksheets,Blank Clock Face, Clock Face Graphic with Numerals for Kids

“Time is just eaten away!”

Cooking Up some Roman Numerals

Recipe for Roman Numerals

Roman Numerals on a Chicken Salad Clock

Children can learn math even when cooking. Boil a dozen eggs. Mix the yolks to make Deviled Eggs. Then use red pepper strips or thiny sliced carrots to form roman numerals on the top of each egg. Place the eggs around a plate to form the clock. What time is it? It's time for Roman Numerals.
French Clock Chicken Salad
The Roman numerals are slivers of green pepper set upon hardboiled egg halves. The peas in the center represent the jewels; found in a French clock. Set it at the hour at which you intend to serve the salad.; That smooth topping? Stiff mayonnaise!
French Clock Chicken Salad Recipe
Use small thin slivers of green peppers to put the hours from 1 to 12 in Roman numerals, one on the yolk of each half egg.

“The hours are delicious when you are homeschooling:)”

Deviled Egg Clock with Roman Numerals

Roman Numeral Mousepad

Deviled Egg Clock with Roman Numerals mousepad
Deviled Egg Clock with Roman Numerals by evelynsaenz
Browse other Deviled Mousepads

You can turn this mouse pad into a board game by adding a couple of playing pieces and flipping a coin. Heads you move, tails you don't. Each number you land on you must say aloud.

This morning my daughter and I made this clock with roman numerals made from carrot sticks. We boiled the eggs, pealed them and cut them in half. After arranging them on the plate we cut a carrot into very thin sticks and arranged them around the clock using roman numerals from 1 to 12.

Roman Numeral Bacon

Roman Numerals for Breakfast

Roman Numerals for Breakfast

Continuing our scavenger hunt for roman numerals I recently discovered roman numeral bacon. This photo shows three X's. If an X equals 10 then how many does XXX equal?

Photo Credit: Roman Numeral Bacon
on Flickr, Creative Commons

Roman Numerals are used in Music theory

Roman Numerals are used in Number Theory
Music Theory: Roman Numeral Chord Notation
Major chord: I, II, III, etc.

Minor chord: i, ii, iii, etc.

Games for Learning Roman Numerals

Roman Numeral Dice

Turn most any board game into a chance to practice roman numerals with these Roman Numeral Dice.
16mm d6 Opaque Dice, Roman Numerals I thru VI, White/Black

16mm d6 Opaque Dice, Roman Numerals I thru VI, White/Black

Amazon Price: $0.47 (as of 02/16/2012)Buy Now

Keeping Track of the Harvest

Writing Roman Numerals




Romans used numerals to keep track of items, dates and other information. You can pretend to be a person from the ancient Roman Empire keeping tract of the amounts of food harvested in your village. Make a list of the vegetables that you would like to harvest. Use 4 dice to make a 4 digit number that represents the number of each kind of vegetable harvested. Write those numbers in roman numerals.

Colorful Vegetables in Paperboard Baskets Line a Table

Chesley, Paul
Buy at AllPosters.com

Games to Practice Roman Numerals

Risk 1980 Board Game With Roman Numeral Pieces



Become Roman soldiers taking over the world. Keep track of your armies using Roman Numerals.
Roman Matching Game
Drag the Roman numerals to the corresponding Arabic numerals.
Quia - Easy Roman Numerals
Translate Roman Numerals into English. (Covers I, V, and X)
Roman Numeral Bingo for teaching Roman numerals
Roman Numeral Bingo
Roman Numeral Matching Game
Drag the Roman numerals to the corresponding Arabic numerals.

Roman Numerals made from Sticks

The following two ideas come from very different sources. They are ideal, however, for homeschooling families with children of wide differences in abilities.

The first is for children just learning how to write the numbers and possibly looking at roman numerals as patterns to be copied.

The second uses roman numerals to comprehend brain function or simply to work a puzzle visually.

Roman Numerals help us all to enjoy the fun of mathematics.
Gnome Math Number Pouches with Roman Numerals
Roman Numerals and Number Pouches

A homeschooling family uses Waldorf inspired number pouches to learn numbers to 12.
Developing Intelligence : When Brain Damage Helps:
Roman Numeral Math Puzzle

Can you move a single matchstick to form a valid mathematical statement equation? No sticks can be discarded, an isolated slanted stick cannot be interpreted as I (one), and a V (five) symbol must always be composed of two slanted...

Roman Numeral Birthday Candles!

Birthday Cake Math Center

Set out playdough and Roman Numeral Birthday Candles.
Roll a set of dice.
Children get to place the correct number of birthday candles on the cake according to the number rolled on the dice.

Variation: You could have paper recording sheets for the children to draw the candles in Roman Numerals.
Fred Roman Candles Birthday Candles

Fred Roman Candles Birthday Candles

Amazon Price: $4.95 (as of 02/16/2012)Buy Now

Games that use Roman Numerals

Make math fun by playing games. Roman Numeral dice can be used to replace the regular dice in most any game.
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Roman Numeral Penguin and Iceberg Puzzle

Here is a fun game invented by some homeschoolers using penguins as playing pieces and paper with roman numerals as the puzzle board.

1

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Almost Unschoolers: Penguin Rescue - A Roman Numeral Puzzle

Rescue the penguins by matching them to the correct iceberg using the skip counting by 10's Roman Numerals.0 points

Roman Numeral Art

Make Roman Numeral Mosaics

Roman Numeral Painted Cobblestones

Roman Numeral Painted Cobblestones Photographic Print
Buy at AllPosters.com



For those children who like working with their hands, the ones who are artistic or those who like to build, set out small square tiles and let them write Roman Numerals in a Mosaic Form. Use a digital camera to take pictures of the results and then use those pictures to write books, play games or to label projects.
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Roman Numeral Jewelry

Roman Numerals are found in Amazing Places!

18k Gold Over Sterling Silver Roman Numeral Cuff Bracelet


Children may enjoy making their own jewelry with roman numerals as decoration. Use Sculpey to crate bracelets or rings. Press roman numerals into the dough before baking. How about writing your age, birth year or telephone number in roman numerals?
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Hornsby Water Clock with Roman Numerals

Roman Numerals in the Water Fountain

water clock with roman numerals

Photo Credit: Hornsby water clock
on WikiMedia, Creative Commons


Victor Cusack designed the Hornsby Water Clock which is a kinetic sculpture as well as a fountain and a fully working clock with the hours written in Roman Numerals. This sculpture has several different clocks incorporated into the design but for me the most intriguing aspect of this sculpture is that the whole thing rotates using water which swirls in a clockwise direction. Every 12 minutes the platform rotates to the next in a series of 60 stops.

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Hornsby Water Clock - Wikipedia

The Hornsby Water Clock, titled Man, Time and the Environment is a piece of kinetic sculpture, a decorative fountain and a functional clock in the Florence Street pedestrian mall in Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia. Unveiled in ...0 points

Hornsby Water Sculpture

Hornsby Water Sculpture Chronicle with sculptor, Victor Cusack

Sculptor, Victor Cusack of the Hornsby Water Sculpture (clock) chronicles the history, workings and meanings of his Water Sculpture in Hornsby Mall.
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Roman Numerals Helper

How do you read and write Roman Numerals?

Roman Numerals

When you have a question about Roman Numerals Mary T has the answers. She is a professor in New York and has written this blog to help with those niggling problems when one just needs to write a roman numeral and can't quite figure out the correct way.
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More Math Lenses

Kaisercraft Rub-Ons - Roman Numerals for Clocks

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Let's Chat about Roman Numerals

16mm d6 Opaque Dice, Roman Numerals I thru VI, White/Black

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About the Author of this Roman Numerals Lens

Writing Roman Numerals Evelyn's Hands-On Learning Blog.

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Find out what I'm up to when I'm not counting Roman Numerals:
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Roman Numerals

Write about Roman Numerals

Includes Roman Numerals!

Ratuki - The Fast Flippin', Quick Grabbin' Card Game


Play this fun and fast moving game of number sequences 1 to 5 and back to 1. Try to capture as many piles as possible with a 5 or V on the top. This game includes several ways of writing the numerals. The winner is the one with the most stacks in the end.


Come write about your experiences learning and teaching about Roman Numerals on Wizzley, a fun and easy place to express your opinion:
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Evelyn_Saenz

My passion is teaching and finding ways to teach children in fun, hands-on, creative ways. The unit studies I make on Squidoo reflect my view that learning... more »

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