Chapter 13 — The Transport Museum

Chapter 13 of the Class 4 Mathematics NCERT textbook (Maths Mela), "The Transport Museum", uses a museum visit by Amala, Raahi, and Farzan as the setting to teach multi-digit multiplication and division with remainders. Students learn to multiply by 10s and 100s, construct times-tables by splitting and doubling, and solve real-life word problems involving trains, boats, buses, and aeroplanes. Download the PDF and read a summary and Q&A below to prepare for every activity in this chapter.

• Multiplying by 10s and 100s Using Place Value — The chapter builds the idea that multiplying by 10 produces a result in Tens (for example, 26 × 10 = 26 Tens = 260) and multiplying by 100 produces a result in Hundreds (for example, 14 × 100 = 14 Hundreds = 1400). Students also multiply by multiples of 10 and 100 such as 20, 30, 200, and 500 by thinking in terms of groups of tens or hundreds. This place-value language is the foundation for all larger multiplication in the chapter.
• Constructing Times-Tables by Splitting and Doubling — Students build the times-15 table by splitting 15 into 10 and 5, computing each part separately, and adding the results (for example, 5 × 15 = 5 × 10 + 5 × 5 = 50 + 25 = 75). Similarly, the times-14 table is built by splitting 14 into two equal groups of 7 and doubling (3 × 14 = double of 3 × 7 = 42). The chapter asks students to compare patterns between the times-5 and times-15 tables and to extend the strategy to times-tables for 11 through 20.
• Multi-Digit Multiplication Using Area-Grid Splitting — For larger products such as 15 × 14 (children in a toy train) and 64 × 152 (Vande Bharat evacuees), the chapter uses a grid that breaks each factor into tens and ones or hundreds, fifties, and ones. Each sub-product is computed separately and then added together. For 15 × 14, splitting gives 100 + 40 + 50 + 20 = 210; for 64 × 152, the sub-products sum to 9,728.
• Division with Remainder — The chapter introduces the concept of remainder through practical situations: dividing 324 children among coaches that seat 14 each (remainder 2 children) and dividing 960 snake-boat participants into boats of 64 (no remainder, 15 boats). Students use repeated subtraction to find the quotient step by step, and the leftover amount after no more full groups can be formed is named the remainder. Word problems involving the Punjab Mail, brick kilns, and Chilika lake further practise both multiplication and division.

1. 01The story follows three children — Amala, Raahi, and Farzan — visiting a Transport Museum that displays modes of transport used in India, including vehicles from olden times.
2. 02The Mystery Matrix activity asks students to find 1-digit multiplicands and multipliers so that row and column products match given numbers.
3. 03Multiplying by 10 is taught as counting Tens: 26 × 10 = 26 Tens = 260; multiplying by 100 is counting Hundreds: 15 × 100 = 15 Hundreds = 1500.
4. 04The times-15 table is constructed by splitting 15 into 10 and 5, computing partial products, and adding — the same strategy used for all tables from 11 to 20.
5. 05Raahi's toy train has 15 coaches each seating 14 children; using grid splitting, students find 15 × 14 = 210 children in all.
6. 06Amala reads about the Vande Bharat Mission: 64 flights carried 152 people each in the first week, requiring a full 2-digit × 3-digit grid multiplication (answer: 9,728 people).
7. 07Farzan sees a Kerala snake boat — a 30–35 metre vessel 800 years old — and students find how many boats are needed for 960 participants when each is paddled by 64 people (answer: 15 boats).
8. 08The chapter introduces remainder as the number left over in a division when equal groups cannot be formed, illustrated by 324 ÷ 14 leaving a remainder of 2 children.