Skills Covered

How to Use This Pack

Six pages on negative numbers, from Year 4 counting back past zero to Year 6 differences across zero. Page 1 fills in the missing numbers on number lines and counts back past zero in steps of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10. Page 2 reads eight thermometers in degrees Celsius, numbered every 5 degrees and marked every degree. Page 3 reads a thermometer, then finds the new temperature after it gets warmer or colder. Page 4 compares pairs with < and > and puts sets of numbers in order, smallest first. Page 5 counts on and back through zero on a number line, then works out sums like −7 + 10 and 2 − 9. Page 6 finds the difference between two temperatures and solves word problems about temperatures, a lift and sea level.

In the Classroom

Draw a long number line from −10 to 10 on the board, or stand children along one on the floor. Ask them to count back from 5 past zero, then to count on from −4. Which is colder, −3°C or −8°C? Page 6 is a good one to talk through: to find the difference between −5 and 7, count up to zero, then on to 7.

At Home

Look at the weather forecast together in winter, or the temperature on the freezer. Ask how many degrees warmer it is today than last night, or how much colder the freezer is than the fridge. A lift with car park levels below the ground is another good place to count through zero.

Tips for Success

• Numbers below zero have a minus sign: −3 is three less than zero
• The further below zero, the smaller the number: −8 is less than −3
• Counting on moves right on a number line, counting back moves left
• To find a difference across zero, count to zero, then on from zero
• On a thermometer, count the marks from the nearest number