Week 7: Negative numbers
Introduction
For the final two weeks of this course you are going to look at numbers that are less than zero; that is, negative numbers. You will probably be familiar with these in relation to temperatures below zero, and in banking, when any debits are made. Here you will explore the use of negative numbers and how to work with them. As well as these everyday uses of negative numbers, they are also very important in some academic study, such as science and technology. If you go on to further study, having a firm understanding of negative numbers will prove very useful.
First, watch Maria introducing the penultimate week of the course, Week 7.
Download this video clip.Video player: swim1_week_7_demo1.mp4
Transcript
Maria Townsend
Negative numbers might first seem like a strange concept. After all I can have one apple in my hand but I can’t have minus one apple - that just doesn’t make any sense. There are everyday situations where it does though, such as with temperature. Clearly, negative numbers have a purpose, and we’ll look at how to use them this week.
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After this study week, you should be able to:
- understand negative numbers using a number line
- use negative numbers in different contexts
- work out everyday problems that involve negative numbers using addition and subtraction.