Curriculum  /  Math  /  6th Grade  /  Unit 4: Rational Numbers  /  Lesson 3

Rational Numbers

Lesson 3

Math

Unit 4

6th Grade

Lesson 3 of 13

Objective

Use positive and negative numbers to represent real-world contexts, including elevation.

Common Core Standards

Core Standards

  • 6.NS.C.5 — Understand that positive and negative numbers are used together to describe quantities having opposite directions or values (e.g., temperature above/below zero, elevation above/below sea level, credits/debits, positive/negative electric charge); use positive and negative numbers to represent quantities in real-world contexts, explaining the meaning of 0 in each situation.

Criteria for Success

  1. Use positive and negative numbers to represent elevation.
  2. Understand the meaning of zero in situations. 
  3. Find and use an appropriate scale for a number line in order for all relevant numbers to be located on the number line.

Tips for Teachers

Lessons 2 and 3 introduce students to various real-world applications that can be modeled with positive and negative values (MP.4). This lesson focuses on elevation.

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Anchor Problems

25-30 minutes

Problem 1

The picture below shows three different people participating in activities at three different elevations.

What integer could you write to represent each person's elevation?

Guiding Questions

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Student Response

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References

EngageNY Mathematics Grade 6 Mathematics > Module 3 > Topic A > Lesson 3 — Classwork Example 1

Grade 6 Mathematics > Module 3 > Topic A > Lesson 3 of the New York State Common Core Mathematics Curriculum from EngageNY and Great Minds. © 2015 Great Minds. Licensed by EngageNY of the New York State Education Department under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US license. Accessed Dec. 2, 2016, 5:15 p.m..

Modified by Fishtank Learning, Inc.

Problem 2

Two friends meet at the same location, at an elevation of 0 feet. After 30 minutes, the two friends are at different elevations; Dale is at an elevation of 35 feet above sea level, and Erika is at an elevation of 15 feet below sea level.

a.   What integer represents the elevation of each friend after the 30 minutes?

b.   Describe what each friend could have been doing during the 30 minutes that brought them to their locations. 

Guiding Questions

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Student Response

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Problem 3

Denver, Colorado, is called “The Mile High City” because its elevation is 5,280 feet above sea level. Someone tells you that the elevation of Death Valley, California, is −282 feet.

a.   Is Death Valley located above or below sea level? Explain.

b.   How many feet higher is Denver than Death Valley?

c.   What would your elevation be if you were standing near the ocean?

Guiding Questions

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Student Response

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References

Illustrative Mathematics Mile High

Mile High, accessed on Aug. 14, 2017, 10:29 a.m., is licensed by Illustrative Mathematics under either the CC BY 4.0 or CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. For further information, contact Illustrative Mathematics.

Problem Set

15-20 minutes

Give your students more opportunities to practice the skills in this lesson with a downloadable problem set aligned to the daily objective.

Target Task

5-10 minutes

A biologist is tracking the location of three different animals. On the first day of spring, the biologist records the following information about the three animals:

  • The first animal is located $$220$$ m below sea level.
  • The second animal is located at an elevation of $$0$$ m.
  • The third animal has an elevation of $$−10$$m.

a.   Draw a number line and represent each animal’s elevation on the number line.

b.   Name a possible animal that could be at each elevation.

Student Response

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Additional Practice

The following resources include problems and activities aligned to the objective of the lesson that can be used for additional practice or to create your own problem set.

Next

Define opposites and label opposites on a number line. Recognize that zero is its own opposite.

Lesson 4
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Lesson Map

A7CB09C2-D12F-4F55-80DB-37298FF0A765

Topic A: Understanding Positive and Negative Rational Numbers

Topic B: Order and Absolute Value

Topic C: Rational Numbers in the Coordinate Plane

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