Organizing IdeaNumber — Number sense is developed through understanding the ways numbers describe the world.
Guiding QuestionHow can the symmetry of the number line contribute to a sense of number?
Learning OutcomeStudents analyze positive and negative numbers.
This lesson covers: comparing and ordering positive and negative integers,
fractions, and decimals; converting between fractions and decimals for comparison;
placing rational numbers on a number line.
Round 1 of 3
Integers & Simple Fractions
← leastdrag to reordergreatest →
correct order on the number line
How to Compare
The key trick: convert everything to decimals first.
A fraction like 34
becomes 0.75 by dividing top by bottom. A negative fraction like
−34
becomes −0.75.
Then compare the decimals on the number line: further left = smaller value.
So −0.8 < −0.75, even though 0.8 > 0.75 as a positive number.
Negatives flip the comparison.
Two numbers are equal if they convert to the same decimal — like −0.75 and
−34.
They sit at exactly the same point on the number line.