Chapter 13 · NCERT Class 5 Maths Mela

Animal Jumps

A frog jumps 3 steps, a rabbit jumps 5. When animals hop along a number line in equal jumps, they land on special numbers — the multiples. Turn it around and you discover factors. Tap each idea and start jumping!

🐸 3 topics⏱ ~20 min📝 10-question quiz

Play with it

Six ideas from animal jumps

Equal jumps on a number line build skip counting, multiples and factors. Tap each word to see what it means, with a jumping example.

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The three big ideas

A number line lays out numbers in order. Adding moves you right; subtracting moves you left.
Skip counting means jumping in equal steps: by 2 (2, 4, 6, …), by 5 (5, 10, 15, …), by 10, and so on.
Equal jumps are just repeated addition — the same idea as multiplication.

Worked example. A frog starts at 0 and makes 5 jumps of 4 on the number line. Where does it land?

It lands on 4, 8, 12, 16, 20. After 5 jumps of 4 it is at 5 × 4 = 20.

The numbers an animal lands on with equal jumps are the multiples of the jump size.
Multiples of 4 are 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, … — they go on forever.
A number that appears in two lists is a common multiple. 6 is a common multiple of 2 and 3.

A factor of a number divides it exactly, with nothing left over.
The factors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12 — each one divides 12 evenly.
Factors come in pairs that multiply to the number: 2 × 6 = 12 and 3 × 4 = 12.

Common mix-up: factors and multiples are opposites. Factors of 12 are small numbers that fit into it (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12); multiples of 12 are bigger numbers it fits into (12, 24, 36, …).

Where you'll meet it

Jumps, multiples & factors around you

Counting money fast

Counting ₹5 coins or ₹10 notes is skip counting: 10, 20, 30, … You reach the total in a few big jumps instead of counting rupee by rupee.

Sharing into equal groups

To seat 24 children at tables, the factors of 24 tell you the neat choices: 4 tables of 6, 6 tables of 4, 8 tables of 3 — all fit with nobody left out.

Patterns & rhythms

Clapping every 3rd beat, or stairs you climb two at a time, follow multiples. Spotting the pattern lets you predict the next number without counting all of them.

Check yourself

Practice quiz

A friendly set of questions about number-line jumps, skip counting, multiples and factors — to check that you can use the patterns, not just remember them.

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