The Six Cents - How to add and subtract integers

For a boy haunted by numbers two great presidents will fight the dark forces of math in The Six Cents (eerie music) Okay Integers are not scary not even their evil twins...the negative integers To see how not scary it is to add and subtract integers, let's take a stroll down number line lane On number line lane each house number is an integer. Our presidents, Adding Abe and Takeaway Tom, will travel from one house to another based upon the the directions given. Let's look at a set of directions. The first integer is the starting house. The plus sign tells us that we are adding and we want to use Abe. The second integer serves two purposes: the number tells how many houses away we are moving to and the sign of the number states if Abe is walking forwards or backward; a positive number moves forward and a negative number moves backwards. Let's put it all together and see how it works. The 3 means we start at house number three. The plus sign indicate to use the penny with Abe. The negative four tells Abe to walk one...two... three...four... steps backwards...HA HA HA HA HA Abe ends up at house negative one and that is the answer to 3 plus negative four. Let's try it again. Start at negative two. Add. Move one...two... three...four... five...six steps forward. End at four. -2 + 6 =4. To clarify the difference between adding a negative number and adding a positive number, let's look at two more examples. In the expression 1 + -2, we start at one and add by going backward2 steps. This puts us at negative one; and that's the answer to the problem. However, if we change the problem to 1 + 2, we move two steps forward and end up at three. Now we will look at subtraction with integers. Again, the first integer is the starting house. The minus sign tells us that we are subtracting and we want to use Tom. The second integer still tells us how many houses away we are moving to and if Tom is walking forwards or backwards. So, we started at house number two. The minus sign indicates to use the nickel with Tom. The positive 3 tells Tom to walk one...two...three steps forward and Tom ends up at house negative one and that is the answer to 2 - 3. Let's try another example. Start at negative one. Subtract. Move one... two...three four steps backwards. End at three. -1 - (-4) = 3 Again, to clarify the difference between subtracting a positive number and subtracting a negative number, let's look at two more examples. In the expression 1 - 3, we start at one and subtract by going forward 3 steps. This puts us at negative two and that is the answer to the problem. However, if we change the problem to 1 - (-3), we move 3 steps backwards and end up at four. Let's review the whole process. The first integer is your starting point. If you add, use Abe. If you subtract, use Tom. A positive number, means to move forward. A negative number means to move backwards. Where you end up is your answer. Thank you, I hope this makes adding and subtracting positive and negative integers a less frightening experience for all of you. (phone ringing in background)