Understanding integers

What they’re learning

Your child is learning about positive and negative whole numbers and how integers are used in temperatures, elevations, money contexts, and movement on number lines.

Explain it to my child

Zero is the middle point. Positive numbers are above or to the right of zero; negative numbers are below or to the left.

Try it together

Draw a number line from −10 to 10. Use a small object as a marker and tell temperature or elevator stories that move left/right or down/up across zero.

Practice

1. Which is greater: −2 or −7?
2. What integer represents 5 degrees below zero?
3. Move 4 units right from −3. Where do you land?
4. Order −5, 2, 0, −1 from least to greatest.
5. What is the opposite of 8?

Check understanding

• Can your child explain why −2 is greater than −7?
• Can they place integers correctly on a number line?