Positive and Negative Numbers
Understand positive and negative numbers as describing quantities with opposite directions or values; use them in context such as temperature, floors in a building, and bank balances
Suggested ages 11–13
Evidence of understanding
- Represent positive and negative numbers on a number line and explain what zero means in context
- Add a positive or negative number to any integer using number line reasoning
- Subtract a positive or negative number from any integer, understanding that subtracting a negative is equivalent to adding
Assessment prompt
If Positive and Negative Numbers sees temperatures like −3°C and +5°C on a weather forecast, can they figure out how much warmer one day is than the other — even when the answer crosses zero?
Standards alignment
Understand Positive and Negative Numbers
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics · 6
Understand Rational Numbers on Number Line
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics · 6
Recognize Opposite Signs
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics · 6
Apply and extend previous understandings of addition and subtraction to rational numbers
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics · 7
Describe situations in which opposite quantities combine to make 0
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics · 7
Understand p + q as the number located a distance |q| from p
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics · 7
Understand subtraction of rational numbers as adding the additive inverse
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics · 7
Apply properties of operations as strategies to add and subtract rational numbers
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics · 7
Ordering Numbers and Symbols
The national curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document · Key Stage 3