Integer Intelligence

Koya79. "Thermometer"
[Online Image].
Retrieved from
http://bit.ly/2wwl6eu

          Integers are everywhere in our daily lives. They are present in the temperature, financial statements (hopefully, more positive than negative), in terms of sea level, losing or gaining weight, etc. Clearly, they are important to understand and work with.

            This week's activity presentations shared a lot of great ideas on how to understand integers and make them challenging and fun. One idea that struck me as most interesting was "Integer Battle". One colour of toy soldiers represented the positive integers, and a different colour of toy soldiers represented the negative integers. Using their toy soldiers, students would answer integer addition questions, such as "-3 + +5 = ?" The colour and number of the most soldiers standing would "win", determining the correct answer. In this case, two positive soldiers would be left, so +2 is the answer. I found this game to be very intriguing and I especially like how it gamifies students' learning.

            After the presentations, we learned more in depth about what integers are. Integers are whole numbers that can be positive or negative. The negative integers are the opposite of the positive integers and vice versa, and this opposition explains the zero property all integers have. This means that opposite integers are the same distances away from 0 as the other. For example, (-4) + (+4) = 0. Interestingly enough, 0 is neither positive nor negative; therefore it is not considered an integer. To build a student's understanding of integers, teachers often use number lines, which are very effective manipulatives.

OnlineMathLearning.com (2015). Integer Number Line [Online Image]. Retrieved from http://www.onlinemathlearning.com/integer-number-line.html

            In search of some more ways to engage students in learning about integers, I found a song on YouTube by NumbaLumba. It is a simple video with cute animations, most likely aimed at younger middle school children, but it's a catchy song that will have your students thinking about integers all the time. The song provides some real life situations where students can expect use integers, which I think is extremely important to understanding them. If students cannot see how a certain math topic is applicable to their own lives, they are more likely not going to be eager to learn about it. I promise this song will change that attitude for students.  

If two negatives make a positive, how come two wrongs don't make a right!