Practice solving addition and subtraction problems with integers (positive and negative numbers). Students receive immediate feedback and have the opportunity to try questions repeatedly, watch a video or receive hints.

Khan Academy learning modules include a Community space where users can ask questions and seek help from community members. Educators should consult with their Technology administrators to determine the use of Khan Academy learning modules in their classroom. Please review materials from external sites before sharing with students.

Demonstrates with the help of a number line how to add and subtract 1-digit negative numbers. [4:06]

Khan Academy learning modules include a Community space where users can ask questions and seek help from community members. Educators should consult with their Technology administrators to determine the use of Khan Academy learning modules in their classroom. Please review materials from external sites before sharing with students.

Students should be able to recognize what makes one number greater or smaller than another, using place value understanding which is crucial to Common Core mastery. This lesson combines math and science by having students order planets according to temperature. A detailed plan and video of students engaged in the lesson are included.

This 4-minute video lesson looks at the imaginary roots of negative numbers.

Khan Academy learning modules include a Community space where users can ask questions and seek help from community members. Educators should consult with their Technology administrators to determine the use of Khan Academy learning modules in their classroom. Please review materials from external sites before sharing with students.

In this Cyberchase video, Harry, his friend, and his cousin Harley form a swim relay team. They get timed in three different strokes to see who should swim which one in a relay. They look at the results and try to find the combination of times which will yield the lowest overall relay time.

Brush up on your math skills relating to comparing rational numbers then try some practice problems to test your understanding.

Explains what negative numbers are and some different contexts where they are used. [9:36]

Khan Academy learning modules include a Community space where users can ask questions and seek help from community members. Educators should consult with their Technology administrators to determine the use of Khan Academy learning modules in their classroom. Please review materials from external sites before sharing with students.

In this Cyberchase video segment, the CyberSquad locates the Cyberchase Council by using negative numbers.

In this interactive, use logic to solve riddles involving a wallaby jumping contest.

In this interactive, use logic to solve riddles involving a wallaby jumping contest. Then, place each contestant's jump -- a fraction, mixed number, or decimal between -5 and +5 -- at the correct point on the number line. Backward jumps are represented by negative numbers and forward jumps by positive numbers. Numbers are randomized so that riddles can be solved and wallabies placed on the number line multiple times. The accompanying classroom activity includes a fraction/decimal concept review and a response sheet to accompany the online work.

Gain a basic understanding of negative numbers by watching this easy to understand video tutorial. Additional resources are available as part of a paid subscription service. [8:26]

This video provides an introduction to all four quadrants of the coordinate plane. As you watch and listen to the teacher and student interact it helps clarify the thinking behind applying this concept. [5:28]

Rational Numbers

Type of Unit: Concept

Prior Knowledge

Students should be able to:

Solve problems with positive rational numbers.
Plot positive rational numbers on a number line.
Understand the equal sign.
Use the greater than and less than symbols with positive numbers (not variables) and understand their relative positions on a number line.
Recognize the first quadrant of the coordinate plane.

Lesson Flow

The first part of this unit builds on the prerequisite skills needed to develop the concept of negative numbers, the opposites of numbers, and absolute value. The unit starts with a real-world application that uses negative numbers so that students understand the need for them. The unit then introduces the idea of the opposite of a number and its absolute value and compares the difference in the definitions. The number line and positions of numbers on the number line is at the heart of the unit, including comparing positions with less than or greater than symbols.

The second part of the unit deals with the coordinate plane and extends student knowledge to all four quadrants. Students graph geometric figures on the coordinate plane and do initial calculations of distances that are a straight line. Students conclude the unit by investigating the reflections of figures across the x- and y-axes on the coordinate plane.

Students answer questions about low temperatures recorded in Barrow, Alaska, to understand when to use negative numbers and when to use the absolute values of numbers.Key ConceptsThe absolute value of a number is its distance from 0 on a number line.The absolute value of a number n is written |n| and is read as “the absolute value of n.”A number and the opposite of the number always have the same absolute value. As shown in the diagram, |3| = 3 and |−3| = 3.In general, taking the opposite of n changes the sign of n. For example, the opposite of 3 is –3.In general, taking the absolute value of n gives a number, |n|, that is always positive unless n = 0. For example, |3| = 3 and |−3| = 3.The absolute value of 0 is 0, which is neither positive nor negative: |0| = 0.Goals and Learning ObjectivesUnderstand when to talk about a number as negative and when to talk about the absolute value of a number.Locate the absolute value of a and the absolute value of b on a number line that shows the location of a and b in different places in relation to 0.

Algebraic Reasoning

Type of Unit: Concept

Prior Knowledge

Students should be able to:

Add, subtract, multiply, and divide rational numbers.
Evaluate expressions for a value of a variable.
Use the distributive property to generate equivalent expressions including combining like terms.
Understand solving an equation or inequality as a process of answering a question: which values from a specified set, if any, make the equation or inequality true?
Write and solve equations of the form x+p=q and px=q for cases in which p, q, and x are non-negative rational numbers.
Understand and graph solutions to inequalities x<c or x>c.
Use equations, tables, and graphs to represent the relationship between two variables.
Relate fractions, decimals, and percents.
Solve percent problems included those involving percent of increase or percent of decrease.

Lesson Flow

This unit covers all of the Common Core State Standards for Expressions and Equations in Grade 7. Students extend what they learned in Grade 6 about evaluating expressions and using properties to write equivalent expressions. They write, evaluate, and simplify expressions that now contain both positive and negative rational numbers. They write algebraic expressions for problem situations and discuss how different equivalent expressions can be used to represent different ways of solving the same problem. They make connections between various forms of rational numbers. Students apply what they learned in Grade 6 about solving equations such as x+2=6 or 3x=12 to solving equations such as 3x+6=12 and 3(x−2)=12. Students solve these equations using formal algebraic methods. The numbers in these equations can now be rational numbers. They use estimation and mental math to estimate solutions. They learn how solving linear inequalities differs from solving linear equations and then they solve and graph linear inequalities such as −3x+4<12. Students use inequalities to solve real-world problems, solving the problem first by arithmetic and then by writing and solving an inequality. They see that the solution of the algebraic inequality may differ from the solution to the problem.

Students discover how the addition and multiplication properties of inequality differ from the addition and multiplication properties of equality.Students use the addition and multiplication properties of inequality to solve inequalities. They graph their solutions on the number line.Key ConceptsIn this lesson, students extend their knowledge of inequalities from Grade 6. In Grade 6, students learned that solving an inequality meant finding which values made the inequality true. Students used substitution to determine whether a given value made an inequality true. They also used a number line to graph the solutions of inequalities. By graphing these solutions on a number line, they saw that an inequality has an infinite number of solutions.Now, in Grade 7, students work with inequalities that also contain negative numbers and learn to solve and graph solutions for inequalities such as −2x − 4 < 5. This involves first understanding how the properties of inequality differ from the properties of equality. When multiplying (or dividing) both sides of an inequality by the same negative number, the relationship between the two sides of the inequality changes, so it is necessary to reverse the direction of the inequality sign in order for the inequality to remain true. Once students understand this, they can apply the same steps they used to solve equations to solve inequalities, but remembering to reverse the direction of the inequality sign when multiplying or dividing both sides of the inequality by a negative number.Goals and Learning ObjectivesAccess prior knowledge of how to solve an inequality.Observe that when multiplying or dividing both sides of an inequality by the same negative number, the inequality sign must change direction.Solve and graph inequalities of the form px + q > r or px + q < r, where p, q, and r are specific rational numbers.

Working With Rational Numbers

Type of Unit: Concept

Prior Knowledge

Students should be able to:

Compare and order positive and negative numbers and place them on a number line.
Understand the concepts of opposites absolute value.

Lesson Flow

The unit begins with students using a balloon model to informally explore adding and subtracting integers. With the model, adding or removing heat represents adding or subtracting positive integers, and adding or removing weight represents adding or subtracting negative integers.

Students then move from the balloon model to a number line model for adding and subtracting integers, eventually extending the addition and subtraction rules from integers to all rational numbers. Number lines and multiplication patterns are used to find products of rational numbers. The relationship between multiplication and division is used to understand how to divide rational numbers. Properties of addition are briefly reviewed, then used to prove rules for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

This unit includes problems with real-world contexts, formative assessment lessons, and Gallery problems.

Students use number lines to represent products of a negative integer and a positive integer, and they use patterns to understand products of two negative integers. Students write rules for products of integers.Key ConceptsThe product of a negative integer and a positive integer can be interpreted as repeated addition. For example, 4 • (–2) = (–2) + (–2) + (–2) + (–2). On a number line, this can be represented as four arrows of length 2 in a row, starting at 0 and pointing in the negative direction. The last arrow ends at –8, indicating that 4 • (–2) = –8. In general, the product of a negative integer and a positive integer is negative.The product of two negative integers is hard to interpret or visualize. In this lesson, we use patterns to help students see why a negative integer multiplied by a negative integer equals a positive integer. For example, students can compute the products in the pattern below.4 • (–3) = –123 • (–3) = –92 • (–3) = –61 • (–3) = –30 • (–3) = 0They can observe that, as the first factor decreases by 1, the product increases by 3. They can continue this pattern to find these products.–1 • (–3) = 3–2 • (–3) = 6–3 • (–3) = 9In the next lesson, we will prove that the rules for multiplying positive and negative integers extend to all rational numbers, including fractions and decimals.Goals and Learning ObjectivesRepresent multiplication of a negative integer and a positive integer on a number line.Use patterns to understand products of two negative integers.Write rules for multiplying integers.