This model was developed and used in the CSMP (Comprehensive School Mathematics Program) and remains a wonderful introduction to integers for young children. Eli is an elephant who loves peanuts. As he travels through the jungle, he picks up each and every peanut he sees and places them in his bag.
The trouble is that some of the peanuts are magic peanuts. They look the same as regular peanuts, so Eli doesn't know if he's picking up a regular or a magic peanut. The problem is that when a regular and a magic peanut get together, they disappear. Eli is always disappointed to find fewer peanuts in his bag when he stops for a snack.
Read more about Integers: Eli and the Magic Peanuts Model on Mathwire. This latest addition to the Mathwire collection includes pictorial directions for introducing Eli to young students. You may also download an Eli math mat and problem set.
NOTE: I regularly used craft foam peanuts and magic peanuts for classroom presentations of Eli and the Magic Peanuts. You can easily use the downloadable demo-size peanuts as a template or simply print several of these demo-size peanuts for student use.
See how the CSMP curriculum presented Eli and the Magic Peanuts and the simple notation they used with first graders. NOTE: You will have to scroll through the document to Lesson F114, page 4-473 for a multi-page presentation. Here you'll find the original representations and story.
This game was designed to provide practice in adding integers, using the number line model. In this model, students move to the right for a positive integer and to the left when adding a negative integer.
Each player starts at 0. The first player spins the spinner, then adds that number to her current position. The second player spins and moves accordingly. Play continues back and forth until one of the players reaches +15 or -15 or beyond these endpoints.
Download the Number Line Madness Game. The PDF file includes extra number lines and optional spinners to differentiate levels of challenge to best meet the needs of varied learners.
Changes in temperature are a real-life application of integers in mathematics. 3 degrees warmer would be represented as +3 while 5 degrees colder would be represented as a change of -5. This change in temperature use of positive and negative integers is in addition to the absolute temperatures on a thermometer which might read below 0 in some climates.
Students use this template to record data to solve changes in temperature problems. Using the 5-day forecast, the teacher tells students Monday's temperature and the change (+ or -) for each day of the week. Students use this information to figure out the actual temperature for each day of the week. Note that the change should reflect the change from the previous day. For example, a change of -3 for Wednesday means that the temperature went down 3 degrees from Tuesday's temperature. Additionally, if the teacher uses the actual changes in the 5-day forecast for the area, the students can also assess the accuracy of a 5-day forecast as the week's weather plays out.
Place the template in a clear sheet protector and provide dry erase markers for students to use.
The thermometer strip is available as a visual representation for students to use in solving the changes in temperature problems. Students write Monday's temperature in the START space. They may then simply count up or down spaces to get to the next day's temperature.
The template was designed so that students could use a clothespin to mark the daily change for ease in recording on the template pictured above. The clothespin simply clips onto the appropriate space as a placeholder while students write in the temperature and record the information in the weekly chart.
Download the Changes in Temperature Template which also includes thermometer strips that may be laminated for student use in these lessons.
The mathematical introduction of integers as positive and negative numbers on the number line is easily accomplished through the real-life application of weather changes in temperature. We are all accustomed to hearing how the temperature will be up or down over the course of the week. Given Monday's temperature, and a series of up and down daily changes, students are challenged to find Friday's temperature.
Teachers might use the 5-day weather forecast for your area on Monday. Give students Monday's temperature, then tell them how the temperature will change each day, going up or down from the previous day. Challenge students to find the predicted temperature on Friday, then check it against Friday's actual temperature as part of daily routines.
The Good Weather problem is a formal assessment of students' proficiency in using integers to describe the changes in temperature and predict the Friday temperature. It is simple to adjust this problem to reflect the current temperatures in any area, depending on the season.
Download the Good Weather assessment.
