This week your student will be adding and subtracting with negative numbers. We can represent this on a number line using arrows. The arrow for a positive number points right, and the arrow for a negative number points left. We add numbers by putting the arrows tail to tip.
For example, here is a number line that shows
The first number is represented by an arrow that starts at 0 and points 5 units to the left. The next number is represented by an arrow that starts directly above the tip of the first arrow and points 12 units to the right. The answer is 7 because the tip of this arrow ends above the 7 on the number line.
In elementary school, students learned that every addition equation has two related subtraction equations. For example, if we know
The same thing works when there are negative numbers in the equation. From the previous example,
Here is a task to try with your student:
Solution:
This week your student will be multiplying and dividing with negative numbers. The rules for multiplying positive and negative numbers are designed to make sure that addition and multiplication work the same way they always have.
For example, in elementary school students learned to think of β4 times 3β as 4 groups of 3, like
What about
After more practice, your student will be able to remember this without needing to think through examples:
Here is a task to try with your student:
Solution:
This week your student will use what they know about negative numbers to solve equations.
Thinking about opposites and reciprocals can help us solve equations. For example, what value of
11 and -11 are opposites.
The solution is -15.
What value of
The solution is -18.
Here is a task to try with your student:
Solve each equation:
Solution:
IM 6β8 Math was originally developed by Open Up Resources and authored by Illustrative Mathematics, and is copyright 2017-2019 by Open Up Resources. It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). OUR's 6β8 Math Curriculum is available at https://openupresources.org/math-curriculum/.