One positive minus a negative equals a negative right? Or is it one negative minus a negative equals a positive? No, I know, one negative divided by one positive, times the square root of a negative equals a negative imaginary number.
Well, enough of that. If you are confused about negative integers then the explanation above might have been written by you. No worries anymore, because the integer bean game will help you solidify the relationships of negative and positive integers. I can’t explain the whole game in this blog, but I can give you a taste of Professor A’s powerful game.
Basically, one color bean (white) represents positive numbers. The other color (red) represents negative numbers. One white and one red make a zero pair and we all know what zero equals. So if we have 5 white beans and we add 7 red beans we end up with 2 red beans. Why, because the zero pairs equal zero and have to be put back in the supply stash. So, the answer to 5+(-7) = (-2).
My question is how do you teach the square root of a negative number?
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