Matching an Integer Expression to a Number Line Worksheet Download
This worksheet lists three integer expressions in a table and asks which of four number lines represents one of them. Each number line draws the first term as a jump from zero, the second term as a jump from where the first one ended, and marks the result with a dotted line. The wrong choices are the number lines of the other two expressions in the table, plus the asked expression with its second jump reversed - the usual slip of treating a negative as though it were positive. Every choice is therefore an honest drawing of something, so a student who reads the wrong row of the table still lands on a real option rather than on nothing. All four number lines share one axis range, so no choice can be ruled out from its labels without reading the arrows.
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About this worksheet
Students pick which of four number lines represents one of three integer expressions listed in a table.
Student objectives
- Match an integer expression to the number line that represents it
- Read the first term as a jump from zero and the second as a jump from where the first ended
- Recognize that adding a negative and subtracting a positive both move left
- Work out which expression a number line shows by reading its jumps and its marked result
Everyday practice
- Track a temperature that drops below zero and then climbs back up
- Follow a bank balance that goes overdrawn and then gets a deposit
- Work out a football team's position after a loss of yards and then a gain
- Follow an elevator that goes below ground level and then back up