Ideas for Teaching About Math Integers
Integers are basic number concepts learned by middle school or young high school students. While the concept may initially seem elementary, the concrete thinking required for the concept does not happen within the human brain until a child is older. Integer concepts are skills built on previous math acquirement and used to improve future graphing skills.
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Thermometers
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Use a thermometer to begin a discussion on integers. Allow the students to examine the thermometer, pointing out the numbers below zero. Ask students to read the temperature on the thermometer. At room temperature, the children should begin calling out numbers between 67 and 71. Ask the children to look at the thermometer near the zero mark. Ask what they think would happen if the temperature in the room dropped below that zero line. Explain the numbers below the zero line are represented by placing a minus sign in front of the number. Further explain that all the numbers discussed, 67, zero, and the negative number, are all integers.
Individual Number Lines
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Help children create number lines. Give children a ruler, a pencil and a piece of paper. Everyone should draw a straight line on the paper then insert 21 dashes through the line, spaced evenly down the line. Count to the eleventh line and write the number zero. Fill in the lines to the right of the zero with the numbers one through 10. This is the easy part. Children can be instructed that the new line is an integer line, and these are the positive integers. Now comes the harder part. Starting at zero, have children write a -10 on the dash to the immediate left of the zero. Continue to count backwards down the line, then tell students they have created a negative integer line. The personalized line is now ready for student use.
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Adding With Bingo Chips
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Gather red and blue bingo chips. Assign a value to each color, so that one color is negative and the other is positive. For this example, blue is negative and red is positive. Create a chart with a blue negative sign on one side and a red positive sign on the other side. Use the chips to create math problems; for example, place three blue chips then two red chips. Ask the students to write out the problem. This problem would be: -3 + 2 =. Assist the students with solving the problem and finding answers to addition and subtraction problems.
Opposites and Absolute Values
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Help students learn these integer concepts by playing a game. Create cards with positive and negative integers, then hand out the cards to the students. Instruct students to draw a card then write down the opposite integer and the integer's absolute value. The student with the most correct answers wins. This activity is useful in the beginning of an integer unit, when classrooms are learning what integers are and how they relate to each other on a number line.
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References
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