In this lesson, students explore integers and their relationship to zero. This is a foundational lesson to build students understanding of opposites, additive inverses, and absolute values. The knowledge gained in this lesson will be used when students begin adding and subtracting with integers and then again when they begin solving algebraic equations.It is important that students understand that additive inverses/opposites combine to make zero, and that absolute value measures a number’s distance from zero.

Enduring Understandings:

• For every number x, there exists an -x, so that x+ (-x) = 0
• The absolute value of any number measures its distance from zero, and absolute values will always be positive because distances are always positive.

Essential Questions:

• What does absolute-value measure and why is it always positive?
• What happens when two numbers that are the same distance from zero, but on opposite sides of the number-line are put together? What will the sum always be?

This is a lesson that promotes building students' conceptual understanding of the topics covered. The lesson includes an exploration, concept development, student practice, and an exit ticket. A lesson plan is also provided for teachers.