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Hands-On

Use number lines to find the difference of two lengths.

Goal:

Goal:

Practice!

Goal: Practice subtracting lengths on a number line.

Sandra is still swimming away from the shark. She swam 120 meters forward and 25 meters backward. How many meters away is the shark?

shark with an arrow to the right labeled 120 meters. sandra with an arrow to the left labeled 25 meters.

It is your turn to subtract on a number line! You will need this number line , a counter, and a pencil to subtract 120 - 25.

Which number is the whole? Put your counter on the whole and draw a dot over that number on the number line.

Now, move your counter to the part. How many tens and ones do you see? Write it under the part.

25 is the part. It is made up of 2 tens and 5 ones. Can you jump 2 tens to the left? Draw your jumps with your pencil and label them with “-10.”

Nice work! Now, jump 5 ones to the left. Remember to label your jumps with “-1.”

What is the difference? Move your counter over the difference on the number line. Remember, the last jump points to the difference.

Sandra the super goldfish swam 89 feet away from a sea turtle. Then, she swam 11 feet back to the sea turtle. Which number line helps you find out how far away Sandra is from the sea turtle?

turtle with an arrow to the right labeled 89 feet. fish with an arrow to the left labeled 11 feet.

  1. number line from 70 to 100 with a dot on 89 and arrows jumping back to 74
  2. number line from 70 to 100 with a dot on 89 and arrows jumping back to 76

The number line starts at 89 and jumps 1 ten and 1 one. The difference is 78.

The number line starts at 89 and jumps 1 ten and 1 one. The difference is 78.

Good job! This number line starts at 89 and jumps 1 ten and 1 one. The difference is 78.

Summary

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Differences Using a Number Line