Prime Numbers and Composite Numbers

“I’m PRIME…ONLY factors are ONE and ME…I’m PRIME…”  That’s the rap that is repeating endlessly in my brain.  It’s a catchy tune that I could hear kids singing under their breath the rest of the day.  We listened to it several times and they LOVED it.  Music is an outstanding way to commit something to memory.  I try to give them fun ways to remember things and this rap was perfect. 

Prime number:  A counting number that has exactly two different factors: itself and 1.  For example, 5 is a prime number because its only factors are 5 and 1.  The number 1 is not a prime number because it has only a single factor, the number 1 itself.  

Composite number: A counting number that has more than 2 different factors.  For example, 4 is a composite number because it has three factors: 1, 2, and 4.