A Seventh Grade Unit Plan

Intriguing Integers
Why do they do what they do?
And, what do they do?

Deb Bradley
UNCC –MAED 5040
Fall 2009

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 Table of Contents

General
Information………………………………………………………………
…

Unit
Goals………………………………………………………………………
……….

Desired
Results……………………………………………………………………
…

Acceptable
Evidence………………………………………………………………

Scope and
Sequencing…………………………………………………………..

Instructional
Resources………………………………………………………….

Lesson
Plans………………………………………………………………………
…

Reflection…………………………………………………………………
…………..

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General Information

Intriguing Integers
Why do they do what they do?
And, what do they do?

This is a mathematics unit for a 7th grade math class.

Class Composition: 18 students
Boys/Girls: 6 boys/12 girls
Racial profile: 3 Black students
2 Hispanic students
13 White Students
Education profile: This in a lower/middle performing math
class. One child is repeating the class and on a behavioral
IEP. Two other students are on IEP for mathematical
learning disabilities.

The class periods are 80 minutes long. This unit will cover 7
days.

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Unit designer: Deb Bradley

Unit Goals

This unit teaches students to compare, order, add, subtract,

multiply, and divide integers. Students will learn to graph
ordered pairs and solve one step equations with integers.

This unit specifically addresses North Carolina Standard

Course of Study

Competency Goal 1:
1.02 Develop fluency in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and
division of rational numbers.

a. Analyze computational strategies.

b. Describe the effect of operations on size.
c. Estimate the results of computations.
d. Judge the reasonableness of solutions.
1.3 Develop flexibility in solving problems by selecting strategies
and using mental computation, estimation, calculators or
computers, and paper and pencil.

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http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/mathematics/scos/2003/k-
8/35grade7

The National Teachers Council for Mathematics states that

by the end of middle school students need to be able to
develop meaning for integers and represent and be able to
compare quantities with them.

Content specific learning outcomes:

• Students will be able to compare and order integers
• Students will be able to add, subtract, multiply, and
divide integers
• Students will be able to identify and graph ordered
pairs on a coordinate plane
• Students will be able to solve one step equations with
integers

Prior Knowledge:
• Students must know how to add, subtract, multiply, and
divide whole numbers.
• Students need to know vocabulary words: whole
number, expression, graph, solve, equation, order
• Students should understand the Order of Operations
• Students should be able to evaluate expressions with
variables
• Students should be able to use inverse operations to
solve equations
• Students should know the words for operations such as
sum, difference, and product

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Desired Understandings

Essential Question:
What numbers are less than zero and how do we compute
with them?

Enduring Understandings:
1. How does one work with negative integers?
2. How are positive and negative integers alike?
Different?
3. Do the Commutative and Associative Properties
work the same with integers as they did with
whole numbers?

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 4. Where do we see negative integers in the world
and how are they used?

Determining Acceptable Evidence

Diagnostic: Students will be evaluated to determine what

they know prior to the unit. This information will be used to
direct the instruction in the class as well as to individual
learners.

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Formative: Students will be evaluated in the classroom as
they work independently and in small groups. They will play
games to demonstrate concepts, keep journals, solve
puzzles, and work on a banking project. Homework
assignments will be used to determine where additional time
on instruction needs to be spent.

Summative: There will be a unit test at the end of the unit.

Scope and Sequence

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Day 1: Introduce integers and absolute value. Be able to
put integers on a number line. Be able to evaluate integers
and determine what numbers are larger than others.

Day 2: Introduce a coordinate plane, quadrants, and

ordered pairs. Have students graph ordered pairs on a
coordinate plane. In class have students use a coordinate
plane as a grid for a map of their neighborhood.

Day 3: Teach students how to add integers (Lesson Plan

attached)

Day 4: Teach students how to subtract integers (Lesson

plan attached)

Day 5: Teach students how to multiply and divide integers

Day 6: Teach students how to solve equations containing

integers

Day 7: Review unit. Students work in class on checkbook

project using webquest

Day 8: Summative Unit test

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Instructional Resources:

"Grade 7." North Carolina Public Schools. Web. 12 Nov. 2009.

<http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/mathematics/scos/2

003/k-8/35grade7>.

Holt Middle School Math Course 2. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,

2004. Print.

"Number and Operations." National Council of Teachers of

Mathematics. Web. 13 Nov. 2009.

<http://www.nctm.org/standards/content.aspx?id=7564>.

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Day 3 Lesson Plan
Adding Positive and Negative Integers

ACTIVATE: One day lesson: The lesson will begin with the teacher
verbally throwing out simple addition problems for the students to
answer. (Examples are 4+5=, 2+8=, 3+6=) She will ask the class
to define the words: Whole numbers, Integers, Associative and
Commutative Properties. If a student does not know the definitions of
these terms or can not give an example the student will be asked to
record the term in their “Personal Mathematics Vocabulary
Journal” (An outline of this journal is attached) This allows each
individual learner to determine their needs as the students who are
already comfortable with this information do not need to record the
definitions. However, as the teacher I would encourage most students
to record these definitions to study later.

The teacher will then throw out a problem with a negative number and
ask if such a problem could exist and how one could solve it. She will
write this problem on the smart board. (Example 4 + (-3) =)

ACQUIRE: Using a Think, Pair, Share activity the teacher will ask the
students to think quietly to themselves about how such a problem
could be solved. She will then ask groups of three to share their ideas
quietly together. These groups will be selected randomly as they will
simply be the three students sitting closest together. There will be 6
groups total. The teacher will then ask each group what their answer
was and how they arrived at that answer. Each answer will be written
on the smart board. Without giving the correct answer she will ask
each group to share how they arrived at the answer and record that
using a mathematical representation on the board. She will ask the
class as a whole which answer they think is correct. She will then
review how the groups with the correct answer arrived at their answer.
There will be a class discussion on ways to solve addition problems
with negative integers.

The teacher will introduce Absolute Value (student will be encouraged

to write this in their Personal Mathematics Vocabulary Journal) and

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show what his means using a number line. She will demonstrate
adding positive and negative integers using a number line to show
what is happening as we perform this operation. Additive Inverse will
be defined at this time.

Again randomly the class will be divided into 9 groups of 2 students.

The students will be given a worksheet (attached) and red and black
counters. They will be told that red represents negative numbers and
black represents positive numbers. The students will be asked to work
with their partner to solve the problems on the worksheet. They can
use the strategies discussed previously or they can solve the problems
using the counters to help if they wish. They will not be told how to
use the counters allowing them to come up with their own strategies
for solving these addition problems. The teacher will walk around the
room observing the methods used to solve the problems and
redirecting if necessary. She will note students who seem to be
struggling and those who obviously understand the concept.

Once most of the groups are done with the worksheet the class will go
over the problems on the smart board with each group getting an
opportunity to work at the smart board to explain their method of
working a problem. The teacher will ask for questions or observations.

APPLY AND ADJUST: The teacher will now select groups based on
her observations of the understanding of each student of the concept
being taught.
Group 1 (lower learners) will work with the teacher with the red
and black counters on more addition problems using the Beat Me to
the Top exercise.
Group 2 (middle learners) will work with a friend in their group or
alone to solve the Beat Me to the Top exercise
Group 3 (High level learners) will work in pairs or individually to
solve the Sum Fun puzzles. When they are done with those puzzles or
if they feel they need more of a challenge, they can work on the
Addition Integer Logic Puzzle.

As a wrap up we will discuss how this is applicable to our lives. The

teacher will ask for ideas about where we see this type of math
everyday. These applications will be listed on the smart board.

The final activity will be for the students to use their math journal to
solve a checkbook problem and write about how they solved the
problem. Each student will be given a copy of a check book page and
a list of five transactions to record. They will be asked to find the final
balance in the checkbook and explain how they arrived at the balance
in their journal. Students who are still struggling with this concept will

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be given whole dollar amounts on their assignment so that they can
concentrate on the concept and worry less about the math. The rest of
the students will be given more realistic numbers. This will be
homework if not completed in class.

ASSESS: Learning will be assessed by teacher observations,

classroom activities and puzzles, and the final checkbook journal
activity. This plan teaches to three levels of learners by allowing time
for the teacher to re-teach the necessary concepts to the lower
learners while the middle and upper level learners are challenged
through other activities and puzzles. The Addition Integer Logic Puzzle
in particular is challenging.

The final checkbook activity will allow the teacher to see how each
student is working on these problems while showing the students a
real world application. By commenting in the journals the teacher can
continue to direct the learning of each student.

Day 4 Lesson Plan

Objective: Subtracting Positive and Negative Integers

ACTIVATE: Class will start with a review of adding positive and

negative integers that was taught the previous day. This will be done
as a warm up on the smart board. Teacher will write problems on the
board for students to solve in their Math Journal.
1. -2+6=
2. -3+(-4)=
3. 7+(-5)=
4. 3+(-4)=
5. -6+(-1)=
6. -6+1=

Teacher will then ask students how to subtract a greater number from
a lesser number. Is it possible? We will relate this to borrowing
money. If you want to buy something for $8.00 but only have $5.00
you would have to borrow $3.00. The mathematical representation
would be written on the board. 5-8=-3. Now if we were to pay back
$2.00 we are actually subtracting a -2. So now our debt is -1.
(-3-(-2) =-1)

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At this point the teacher will pass out two different colored pieces of
paper (for simplicity I will use red and blue). She will ask five people
with blue paper to come to the front of the room and stand to the right
of a line. She will ask 8 students with the red paper to come to the
front of the room and stand to the left of the line. The students are to
stand facing the class in a line. We are going to pretend that this is a
tug of war game. Because there are more reds they will be able to pull
the blues over the line one at a time. As the blue is pulled over the
line they will pair up with a red and the pair will return to their seats.
At the end there will be only 3 reds left. We will talk about how this
represents a number line and the center line is zero.

In groups of 5 the teacher will have the students think about how to
apply the same tug of war example above to the next example
problem above (-3-(-2) =-1) Teacher will circulate around the room
and observe and help where needed. After a few minutes the teacher
will ask one group to demonstrate how they worked this problem and
then ask the rest of the class if this is how they acted out the problem.
Through class discussion we will come up with the idea that
subtracting an integer is the same as adding the opposite. We will talk
about how to represent this mathematically.

Students will be divided into groups of 2 and given a worksheet and

red and black counters. They will be told that red represents negative
number and black positive. The students will be asked to work the
problems on the worksheet with their partners. They can use the
strategies discussed previously or they can solve the problems using
the counters to help if they wish. They will not be told how to use the
counters allowing them to come up with their own strategies for
solving these addition problems. The teacher will walk around the
room observing the methods used to solve the problems and
redirecting if necessary. She will note students who seem to be
struggling and those who obviously understand the concept.

APPLY AND ADJUST: The teacher will not select groups based on her
observations of the understanding of each student of the concept
being taught.
Group 1 (lower learners) will work with teacher using red and
black counters to practice more subtraction problems. This group will
also use the Dominos Subtracting Integers activity to reinforce
understanding.
Group 2 (middle learners) In pairs, students will be directed to
play the Dominos Subtracting Integers game
Group 3 (High level learners) Student will play the Dominos
Subtracting Integers Game with a partner or do the Number Tiles
worksheet individually.

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As a wrap up we will discuss how this is applicable to our lives. The
teacher will ask for ideas about where we see this type of math being
used. We will list these applications on the board.

Students will be assigned a webquest using addition and subtraction of

positive and negative integers. They will be allowed to work in pairs.
Time will be given in class to work in the computer lab. Some work will
need to be done outside of the classroom as homework. The webquest
asks the students to explore global warming by looking at minimum
and maximum temperatures from 5 places around the globe over a
period of time. Students are to average these temperatures and
determine if they think the world is getting warmer, staying the same,
or cooling.

Webquest site: http://sites.google.com/site/extremetemps/

ASSESS: Learning will be assessed by teacher observations,

classroom activities and puzzles, and the webquest activity.

Personal Mathematics Vocabulary Journal

Word/Concept Definition Example

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 Adding Positive and Negative Integers Worksheet

8+3=

8 + (-3) =

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5 + (-9) =

-4 + -6 =

2 + (-12) =

-5 + 3 =

-7 + (-2) =

-7 + 2 =

6 + (-4) =

9 + (- 12) =

Beat Me to the Top Activity

http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/curriculum/mathematics/middlegrades/
grade07/goal01/objective1.02/1.02-tasks/1.02-beatmetothetop.pdf

Addition Integer Logic Puzzle

http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/curriculum/mathematics/middlegrades/
grade07/goal01/objective1.02/1.02-tasks/1.02-addintegerlogic.pdf

Sum Fun Puzzle

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http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/curriculum/mathematics/middlegrades/
grade07/goal01/objective1.02/1.02-tasks/1.02-sumfun.pdf

Dominos Subtracting Integers Activity

http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/curriculum/mathematics/middlegrades/
grade07/goal01/objective1.02/1.02-tasks/1.02-
dominoessubtractintegers.pdf

Number Tiles – Integer Operations

http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/curriculum/mathematics/middlegrades/
grade07/goal01/objective1.02/1.02-tasks/1.02-
numberintegeroperations.pdf

Reflection

We use positive and negative numbers everyday in our daily living. In

this unit I tried to show the students just how many times we see these
operations. At the same time, adding and especially subtracting

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positive and negative integers can be a very difficult topic to
understand. In my lesson plans I worked to reach all learners. I did
this by using different strategies to present the material. I tried to let
the students get an understanding of the concepts by allowing them to
work out and share ideas about what we were learning. I gave them
activities tailored to their understanding levels that were fun so that
the students could see that learning math is fun. Using the “Personal
Mathematics Vocabulary Journal” gives the students the ability to look
back on the lesson and review the notes and applications that we
discussed.

I hope the students enjoy this unit like I have enjoyed designing it.

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