Integers Worksheets

Coordinate graph paper can be very useful when studying integers. Coordinate geometry is a practical application of integers and can give students practice with using integers while learning another related skill. Coordinate graph paper can be found on the Graph Paper page:

Coordinate Graph Paper

Integer number lines can be used for various math activities including operations with integers, counting, comparing, ordering, etc.

For students who are just starting with integers, it is very helpful if they can use an integer number line to compare integers and to see how the placement of integers works. They should quickly realize that negative numbers are counter-intuitive because they are probably quite used to larger absolute values meaning larger numbers. The reverse is the case, of course, with negative numbers. Students should be able to recognize easily that a positive number is always greater than a negative number and that between two negative integers, the one with the lesser absolute value is actually the greater number. Have students practice with these integers worksheets and follow up with the close proximity comparing integers worksheets.

By close proximity, we mean that the integers being compared differ very little in value. Depending on the range, we have allowed various differences between the two integers being compared. In the first set where the range is -9 to 9, the difference between the two numbers is always 1. With the largest range, a difference of up to 5 is allowed. These worksheets will help students further hone their ability to visualize and conceptualize the idea of negative numbers and will serve as a foundation for all the other worksheets on this page.

Two-color counters are fantastic manipulatives for teaching and learning about integer addition. Two-color counters are usually plastic chips that come with yellow on one side and red on the other side. They might be available in other colors, so you'll have to substitute your own colors in the following description.

Adding with two-color counters is actually quite easy. You model the first number with a pile of chips flipped to the correct side and you also model the second number with a pile of chips flipped to the correct side; then you mash them all together, take out the zeros (if any) and behold, you have your answer! Need further elaboration? Read on!

The correct side means using red to model negative numbers and yellow to model positive numbers. You would model —5 with five red chips and 7 with seven yellow chips. Mashing them together should be straight forward although, you'll want to caution your students to be less exuberant than usual, so none of the chips get flipped. Taking out the zeros means removing as many pairs of yellow and red chips as you can. You can do this because —1 and 1 when added together equals zero (this is called the zero principle). If you remove the zeros, you don't affect the answer. The benefit of removing the zeros, however, is that you always end up with only one color and as a consequence, the answer to the integer question. If you have no chips left at the end, the answer is zero!

Subtracting with integer chips is a little different. Integer subtraction can be thought of as removing. To subtract with integer chips, begin by modeling the first number (the minuend) with integer chips. Next, remove the chips that would represent the second number from your pile and you will have your answer. Unfortunately, that isn't all there is to it. This works beautifully if you have enough of the right color chip to remove, but often times you don't. For example, 5 - (-5), would require five yellow chips to start and would also require the removal of five red chips, but there aren't any red chips! Thank goodness, we have the zero principle. Adding or subtracting zero (a red chip and a yellow chip) has no effect on the original number, so we could add as many zeros as we wanted to the pile, and the number would still be the same. All that is needed then is to add as many zeros (pairs of red and yellow chips) as needed until there are enough of the correct color chip to remove. In our example 5 - (-5), you would add 5 zeros, so that you could remove five red chips. You would then be left with 10 yellow chips (or +10) which is the answer to the question.

The worksheets in this section include addition and subtraction on the same page. Students will have to pay close attention to the signs and apply their knowledge of integer addition and subtraction to each question. The use of counters or number lines could be helpful to some students.

These worksheets include groups of questions that all result in positive or negative sums or differences. They can be used to help students see more clearly how certain integer questions end up with positive and negative results. In the case of addition of negative and positive integers, some people suggest looking for the "heavier" value to determine whether the sum will be positive of negative. More technically, it would be the integer with the greater absolute value. For example, in the question (−2) + 5, the absolute value of the positive integer is greater, so the sum will be positive.

In subtraction questions, the focus is on the subtrahend (the value being subtracted). In positive minus positive questions, if the subtrahend is greater than the minuend, the answer will be negative. In negative minus negative questions, if the subtrahend has a greater absolute value, the answer will be positive. Vice-versa for both situations. Alternatively, students can always convert subtraction questions to addition questions by changing the signs (e.g. (−5) − (−7) is the same as (−5) + 7; 3 − 5 is the same as 3 + (−5)).

Multiplying integers is very similar to multiplication facts except students need to learn the rules for the negative and positive signs. In short, they are:

In words, multiplying two positives or two negatives together results in a positive product, and multiplying a negative and a positive in either order results in a negative product. So, -8 × 8, 8 × (-8), -8 × (-8) and 8 × 8 all result in an absolute value of 64, but in two cases, the answer is positive (64) and in two cases the answer is negative (-64).

Should you wish to develop some "real-world" examples of integer multiplication, it might be a stretch due to the abstract nature of negative numbers. Sure, you could come up with some scenario about owing a debt and removing the debt in previous months, but this may only result in confusion. For now students can learn the rules of multiplying integers and worry about the analogies later!

Luckily (for your students), the rules of dividing integers are the same as the rules for multiplying:

Dividing a positive by a positive integer or a negative by a negative integer will result in a positive integer. Dividing a negative by a positive integer or a positive by a negative integer will result in a negative integer. A good grasp of division facts and a knowledge of the rules for multiplying and dividing integers will go a long way in helping your students master integer division. Use the worksheets in this section to guide students along.

This section includes worksheets with both multiplying and dividing integers on the same page. As long as students know their facts and the integer rules for multiplying and dividing, their sole worry will be to pay attention to the operation signs.

In this section, the integers math worksheets include all of the operations. Students will need to pay attention to the operations and the signs and use mental math or another strategy to arrive at the correct answers. It should go without saying that students need to know their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts and rules regarding operations with integers before they should complete any of these worksheets independently. Of course, the worksheets can be used as a source of questions for lessons, tests or other learning activities.

Order of operations with integers can be found on the Order of Operations page:

Order of Operations with Integers