Practice 1
Practice 2
Practice 3
Practice 4
Your favorite football team was about to score. In fact, they were on the 15 yard line when their quarterback was sacked. They took a loss of 20 yards. What yard line will their next down start?
Since in football, the yard lines get smaller the closer to the goal and larger the further away (at least until the 50 yard line), the team is making "backwards" progress here, or increasing the yard line number. The expression could look like this:
15 − (−20) = 35
or
15 + 20 = 35
One winter day the temperature when you woke up was 30° F. During the day the temperature decreased 5°, then increased 1°, and decreased again 2°. What was the final temperature?
In this problem, there is more than action, so you have multiple integers.
30° − 5° +1° − 2° = 24°
or
30° + (-5°) + (1°) + (-2°) = 24°
The lowest temperature ever recorded in Fort Yukon, Alaska is −80 °F. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Greenville, Georgia is 63° higher. What is the lowest temperature ever recorded in Greenville, Georgia?
A higher temperature implies adding:
−80 °F + 63°F = -17 °F
Come up with your own scenario for the expression (–25) + (–10).
There is not just one scenario that would work. Ask yourself if your scenario requires adding two negative numbers, like owing money to two different places. You could also give your problem to a parent or friend and see if they come up with the same expression to solve your problem.
