Let's talk about integers...

The following week after our lesson on fractions, we were given the challenge to answer the following word problem using integers:

The math question sounds quite easy. However, our table group had a lot of complications with this word problem. At our table of four colleagues, we seemed to all have different answers. It turns out there's more to consider when trying to solve the problem. We forgot to consider the fact that the base camp was 15C above sea level and started at 0.

In order to successfully solve this problem, we were given a blank sheet of paper and were asked to draw our solutions. As our professor has stated multiple times, it's extremely important to show your work and show how you achieved your answer.

This activity was really challenging but fun. The one thing I found quite interesting was our chance to walk around the classroom and look at the work that the other table groups did. By doing so, we were able to recognize the fact that there are multiple ways to solve the question.

In the photos below, you can see that people have used different techniques and images to solve their question. Majority of the groups used a similar method of drawing the mountain and then drawing a line graph in the middle in order to count the decreasing temperature.

After this challenge was completed, we were given a fun activity to enhance our math skills! It's an activity I have never heard of or thought to use in the classroom but I found it to be very engaging. It was Integer football! I'm no expert on football, but I was able to grasp the basics of the game.

We were to split our table group into two teams. With a penny and a large die, we had to roll the die and then flip the coin. If it was heads, it was a positive number. If tails, it was a negative number. The goal was to reach the opponent's side to get a point.

The game is so simple and easy to create - just using dice, paper, and pennies - and you can create really fun and engaging activity for the class. I genuinely hope to use this in the classroom.