Grade 4 Multi-Digit Multiplication in an Asteroid Field

Thirty-eight times three, forty-six times seven — two-digit by one-digit, the workhorse of fourth grade multiplication. The answers come past as asteroids, which means there's no list to scan and no partial credit for being close. Breaking the two-digit number into tens and ones and multiplying each part is what the standard describes and what actually works here: 38 × 3 is 90 plus 24, and a cadet who thinks that way finds the 114 well before the belt closes.

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What this station asks for

☄️ Through the Asteroid BeltA dense belt of asteroids blocks the path. Work out each multiplication, then blast the asteroid showing that exact product. Quick thinking, Agent! You solve each problem and tap the drifting space rock that carries the answer. Five tasks, then a boot print goes into the Case File.

Five questions it might ask

Drawn from the same pool the activity uses, so these are the real thing rather than an illustration. The numbers change on every attempt — there is no fixed set to memorize.

Question	Answer
22 × 8 = ?	176
34 × 4 = ?	136
19 × 5 = ?	95
12 × 8 = ?	96
29 × 7 = ?	203

👀 What to watch for

The classic fourth grade error is multiplying only the ones digit — answering 38 × 3 with 24. It survives longer than you'd expect because it produces a plausible-looking number. A quick estimate ("nearly 40 threes, so about 120") kills it.

The Common Core standard behind it

Official wording, quoted in full — not our summary of it:

4.NBT.B.5	Multiply a whole number of up to four digits by a one-digit whole number, and multiply two two-digit numbers, using strategies based on place value and the properties of operations. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or area models.

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Other Grade 4 skills in this case

Multi-digit addition4.NBT.B.4 Division4.NBT.B.6

Multi-digit multiplication at other grades

All grades

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