Week 5 Reflection- Integers

This week in class we looked at integers. We started the class off with our group activities led by Stefan and Tristan. This week I was in Stefan’s group where we did a coin battle. This was a great introductory activity for a grade seven class. The game was interactive and hands on and laid out so that it was easy to follow along and understand the concepts of integers. For the activity we had to flip a coin 20 times. Every time you landed on a tails you added a positive one and every time you landed on a heads you added a negative one. We had to record each of our trials while simultaneously recording our process on the number line to visualize the progression. Once we finished our 20 flips we had to add the integers together, or look at our number line. Whoever had the highest positive number won the activity. Britney came out on top with positive 8 where the rest of our table group came out with positive 4. Overall I found the activity to be very useful in order to get oneself familiar with the concepts of integers, and especially negative integers and what they look like considering that for students in grade 7, this is their first time being exposed to working with these numbers.

J. K. (2017). Flipping a Coin. [Online Image]. Retrieved from http://www.psychic-junkie.com/flipping-a-coin-gives-you-the-truth-of-the-matter.html

When we got back to the whole class, we continued to work with integers. We went over what an integer is, them being numbers, being positive or negative, them not having decimals and not having fractions. We then looked at the integer big ideas.

1.     The negative integers are the “opposites” of the whole numbers.

2.     The zero property, that is, (-1) + (+1)= 0

3.     The meanings for the operations (=,-,x,/) also applies to all integers.

We saw that integers can be represented on an integer line where negative integers are valued less than zero, and one always to the left of zero, and positive integers are valued more than zero and always on the right of zero.

Tutor Vista. (2017). Number line. {Online Image}. Retrieved from  http://math.tutorvista.com/number-system/number-line.html

We then reviewed the rules for operations of integers for adding, subtracting, multiplication and division. We were then able to practice these skills by solving a list of a variety of questions dealing with an array of integers. Another activity we did was through the method of teaching through problem solving. This gave students a meaningful way to work with both positive and negative integers, applying what they know about the concepts to real world problems. Our first problem was to figure out the minimum temperature rating of the sleeping bag needed to buy for peaching the peak of Mt. Everest. We used positive integers when going up in elevation and negative integers when decreasing in temperature. The second activity asked us how to find the difference between two elevations, which again, used both positive and negative integers. This activity allowed for us to use all of the concepts we learned today in one, by adding the positive and negative integer as well as displaying it on a number line.

Until next time. Happy Mathing!