Integers: add and subtract (Grade 7)

If your child is in Grade 7, the topic "Integers: add and subtract" is one of the ideas where confidence is most often won or lost. Here is what it means in plain words, a worked example you can follow together, and a few simple ways to help at home.

What Grade 7 children learn

• Add and subtract integers with a number line and zero pairs
• Turn subtracting a negative into adding
• Solve temperature and money problems with integers

The key ideas

• On the number line, positive means right and negative means left.
• A zero pair is +1 and −1 together: they cancel to make 0.
• Adding a negative is the same as subtracting: 5 + (−3) = 5 − 3.
• Subtracting a negative is the same as adding: 5 − (−3) = 8, because taking away a debt leaves you richer.

Quick examples

• −7 + 4 = −3
• 5 − (−3) = 8
• −6 − 8 = −14
• −12 − (−5) + 9 = 2

A worked example

How to help at home

• Ask your child to explain the first step of the worked example in their own words before you show them anything.
• Work through the "Try it yourself" question together, and talk about why the answer makes sense.
• Spend a few minutes a day on the free Tutorizer "Integers" practice. Short and regular beats long and rare.
• If a step feels shaky, go back to the key ideas above and use objects, drawings or a number line.

Try it yourself

Want a challenge?

Next steps