Definition
Number track
A number track is a row or path of adjacent numbered spaces used to count positions or moves.
What it means
Put a counter in a numbered space. Each hop into the next space is one move, so count the new spaces you enter. This makes counting on and counting back something you can act out.
Remember it
A track has numbered spaces to land in; a number line has marked points.
Example
Start a counter on 4 and move three spaces: into 5, then 6, then 7. The counter lands on 7; the starting space is not one of the three moves.
Watch for
Reading 4, 5, 6, 7 names four numbers, but moving from 4 to 7 takes three one-space moves.
Common mix-up
On a number track, labels sit inside spaces; on a number line, numbers mark points and the gaps show intervals.
Exact meaning
A number track is an ordered row or path of adjacent spaces, each labelled with a number, on which a counter or person can move one space at a time. Each label belongs to a whole space rather than to a point on a continuous scale.