To many people zero is just a number with no value, a common placeholder for other values, and something we know as nothing. Just how true can this be - could zero actually mean something in our number system?

When children are taught to count, they are taught to start from one to infinity which is thus ironic seeing that the number zero belongs to the set whole numbers which is also known as counting numbers. They are taught that yes, it is a number but unlike other numbers it has no value. I was taught this too. A moment in the article which left me in awe was reading that the symbol for zero was not completely accepted until the 1800’s- in the development of our number system this was a significant achievement. Zero was and always will just be there but this makes one realise just how important this ‘dot’ number really was.

I now know how difficult understanding the concept of 0 is. A child is more likely to understand when you say they have nothing than to tell them they have zero. Rules that are supplied to children without any practical activities lead to confusion and affect ones thinking of zero. I therefore agree fully when in the article it is stated that “Children should tackle the complexities of zero gradually” and I as a teacher will have to teach this with patience. In the article is it evident that children many a times misunderstand the role of zero as an identity element. When the question of whether there was a number that you could add to or subtract from 7 and still retain 7 was posed; learners answered “No” and their reasoning was simple, addition makes numbers bigger and subtraction makes a number smaller.

When zero is ignored in its natural state and is associated to being nothing, how does one then explain its presence in a multidigit number, is it then just there as a placeholder for another value or is it of actual value to the number it is found in? This got me thinking … zero = nothing but in the number 2042, for example, zero does in fact mean something. Zero equals hundred. Zero when in isolation has no worth but here, still zero; it increases the value of the number. Interesting?

I, as a prospective teacher, have now gained more knowledge then what I was exposed to in previous years of learning after successfully completing this assignment. I can now in the upcoming years of teaching, with a great deal of confidence, teach my learners to a larger extent that zero has more value and is more valuable than any other number in our number system.

In conclusion to my essay it has been proven that zero, despite being overlooked and ignored, does in fact mean a lot more than nothing in our number system. More than just a dot, zero is nothing – of something.