Fun Filled Day of Integers

Integers are used every single day, in many different and unique ways, including weather and paychecks. When you go to the grocery store, when you get sick and need to use your thermometer, and even right in math class you use integers. It was a fun filled day when I realized that world was overflowing with integers.

It was a cold winter day and cold white snow was just overflowing the streets. To make matters worse it was -5 degrees Fahrenheit and I had to walk in the snow all the way to school. When I finally arrived at school my teacher Mr. Poremba gave me an assignment with five integer problems:

(-4)+-4, -5-(-3), (-6) x-2, and (-7)/-1

but I didn’t know how to do the problems, so my other teacher Ms. Waugh showed me a number line that said “…. -10 -9 -8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10….”. Ms. Waugh specifically said to solve (-4) + -4 start at -4 and add 4, moving 4 units to the left. I told Ms. Waugh that I didn’t understand the other problems, either. So she told me a negative take away a negative is like adding a positive, negative times a negative is a positive, and a negative divided by a negative is equivalent to a positive. For each equation I used this method because I strongly understood.

After math class was over it was time for science and Ms. Waugh had had to leave. So Mr. Poremba said loudly “Class, today we will be trying something new called weather bug. Weather bug is a website that tells you the temperature outside, the wind speed, and the chances of precipitation. Here is a handout on how to take the information on the board and write it in the table.”

As the information appeared on the board, I saw a negative sign right next to 5 degrees below Fahrenheit. I raised my hand and said “Mr. Poremba, why is that sign next to5 degrees Fahrenheit? “Mr.Poremba explained that it was there because it means that the temperature is exactly 5 degrees below zero.

As I was writing this information down the school bell rang and it was time to leave. I grabbed my jacket, coat, scarf, hat, and gloves then immediately rushed home. When I got home my dad was watching football and I heard a man say that one of the football players got tackled behind the line and he said that’s a negative. I said to my dad, “What does integers have to do with football? “ he said

“In football integers represent gains and loses,” he said.

In conclusion I saw integers in temperature, during science class, and even during math class. It truly was a fun filled day of integers.