Order positive and negative integers, decimals and fractions, and use…

Below Zero: Integers in the Real World Grades 6–7 · partly supports this outcome

How cold can ice get? Is the bottom of the ocean further from sea level than the top of Everest? How did a town warm up 27 degrees in two minutes? Can a lemonade stand that sold $64 end up in the red? Four lessons on integers with real temperatures, elevations and money.

• How cold can ice get? 50–60 min

  Teams measure the temperature of ice water, then stir salt into crushed ice and watch the thermometer fall well past zero. Students read negative temperatures on a vertical number line, order integers, and explain opposites and how far each temperature is from zero.

• Which is further from sea level? 50–60 min

  The class builds a 2 m tall number line on the wall, from the bottom of the deepest ocean trench to the top of Mount Everest, and places real places on it at a scale of 1 cm for every 100 m. Students explain elevation above and below sea level with integers, compare with absolute value, and find that the Challenger Deep is further from sea level than Everest is high.