Negative number line
A negative number line runs through zero in both directions, with the negatives to the left and the positives to the right. It is the picture behind ordering integers, opposites and absolute value, and it is where temperatures and elevations below zero first make sense.
Free printable PDF, 5th grade to 6th grade.
One page, black and white, prints the same every time.
What is on the sheet
The table below is the sheet as it prints with these options: -10 to 10, -20 to 20, one blank.
-10 to 10
| -10 | -9 | -8 | -7 | -6 | -5 | -4 | -3 | -2 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
-20 to 20
| -20 | -18 | -16 | -14 | -12 | -10 | -8 | -6 | -4 | -2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 |
-10 to 10 with the numbers left off
| -10 | 0 | 10 |
What zero does on the line
Zero gets the longer tick in the middle. Every number to its right is positive and every number to its left is negative, and a number and its opposite sit the same distance away on either side, which is what absolute value measures. Reading -7 as "seven to the left of zero" rather than "minus seven" is the habit the line builds.
Order works the same as on any number line: further right is larger. That makes -3 greater than -8, the comparison 6th graders most often get backwards until they have looked at the line a few times.
Using it in 6th grade
Plot a set of integers and read them off in order. Mark a number and its opposite. Show a temperature drop as hops left across zero. The blank line at the bottom of the default page is for the child's own problems, with only zero and the ends given.
Common questions
- Which grade meets negative numbers?
- Sixth grade in the Common Core, with 5th grade sometimes seeing them on a thermometer. The chart is for both.
- Why is zero marked with a longer tick?
- So the eye finds the centre first. Every other tick is measured from it.