Step 11: Negative Numbers Year 5 Place Value Learning Video Clip
Buzz and Reena are travelling around the universe calculating negative numbers for temperatures, money and a special game.
More resources for Autumn Block 1 Step 11.
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Discussion points for teachers
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- Help them by marking on the number line the temperatures of each place the probe has visited. Discuss how calculating the blank increments on the number line will help with being able to plot negative and positive numbers. Discuss using the start and end points of the number line to calculate the increment values.
- Buzz rolls the numbers 18 and 8. Which number could he cross off the board? Discuss the way in which normal subtraction dictates that we must take the smaller number away from the larger number, but with negative numbers, we can take a larger number away from a smaller number.
- Investigate the numbers that Reena might have rolled. Discuss the calculations that could have resulted in the numbers Reena crosses off, with emphasis on counting through zero.
- What is the temperature difference between the fridge and the freezer? Discuss how to find the difference between a positive and a negative temperature.
- Work out what their overspend will be. Discuss how negative numbers can also be used to describe overspending, and calculate the amount that they have overspent.
- Which two items could Buzz have picked? Discuss how best to work out the possibilities. Is it better to start at the overspent amount and work out which two items will total less than the difference to zero, or work out how much they could spend so it totals than the amount they have available?
Optional discussion points:
Where else are you likely to encounter negative numbers?
National Curriculum Objectives
Mathematics Year 5: (5N5) Interpret negative numbers in context, count forwards and backwards with positive and negative whole numbers, including through zero
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