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Year 5 Negative numbers worksheet

“Change stories below zero” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 5 maths unit “Negative numbers”, for children aged 9 to 10, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 5 to 6 of the year, 10 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Change stories below zero

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 5 · Maths · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can write a change story as a subtraction equation, and read a negative answer.

A Look back3 min

  1. 1.

    What is 6 × 7?

  2. 2.

    A shop has 80 apples and sells 35. How many are left?

    8035
  3. 3.

    Write < or >: 1,204 1,240

    12041240

B Watch me, then you4 min

The garden starts at 0°C. It warms up by 4 degrees, then cools down by 7 degrees.

Watch me
-4°C-3°C-2°C-1°C0°C1°C2°C3°C4°C

It warms up by 4, so the temperature goes up from 0°C to 4°C.

It cools down by 7, so it goes down from 4°C to -3°C.

4 - 7 = -3. The garden ends at -3°C, three degrees below zero.

Now you
  1. 1.

    Another day starts at 0°C. It warms up by 2 degrees, then cools down by 6. Write the change as an equation:

    26

C Your turn6 min

Each day starts at 0°C, warms up by 5 degrees, then cools down. Each row changes only how much it cools. Write the equation, then find the answer.

  1. 1.

    Warms up 5, cools down 2. Write the equation:

    52
  2. 2.

    Warms up 5, cools down 7. Write the equation:

    57
  3. 3.

    Warms up 5, cools down 9. Write the equation:

    59
  4. 4.

    Warms up 5, cools down 12. Write the equation:

    512

Say it out loud: When it cools down by more than it warmed up, what happens to the answer?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Mia says: “4 - 6 and 6 - 4 are the same, so both make 2.”
46
  1. 1.

    What does 4 - 6 really equal?

E Think deeper4 min

Make up a short weather story for this garden. Tell it to your grown-up before you write the equation.

A thermometer on a garden fence on a frosty morning
  1. 1.

    In your story, it warms up by 3 degrees from 0°C, then cools down by 8. Write the equation:

    38

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet
StudyDen · Year 5 · Maths · Negative numbersAnswers are on the grown-up page

For the grown-up

Change stories below zero · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. 42

2. 45

3. <

B

1. 2 - 6 = -4 If your child writes 4, the numbers have been swapped to 6 - 2. The warming came first, so 2 comes first.

C

1. 5 - 2 = 3

2. 5 - 7 = -2 If your child writes 2, they have done 7 - 5, which swaps the numbers. It warmed up by 5 first, so 5 comes first in the equation.

3. 5 - 9 = -4 If your child writes 4, they have done 9 - 5, which swaps the numbers. Put the 5 for the warming first.

4. 5 - 12 = -7 If your child writes 7, they have done 12 - 5 and left off the minus sign. The temperature ends below zero, so the answer is negative.

D

1. -2 If your child writes 2, they have done 6 - 4. The order matters, so 4 - 6 is a change of -2 and 6 - 4 is 2.

E

1. 3 - 8 = -5 If your child writes 5, the numbers were swapped to 8 - 3. The warming came first, so 3 comes first.

Words to use

Say“Which change came first, and which came second? Write the first change first.”
Instead of“Just take the smaller number away from the bigger one.”

After the sheet

Draw a thermometer from -10°C to 10°C. Take turns giving a rise and then a fall from 0°C, and write each as an equation.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

9 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

  1. Temperatures below zero(with a plan)
  2. Negative numbers, sign first(with a plan)
  3. Which is greater below zero?(with a plan)
  4. Negative numbers on a line(with a plan)
  5. Colder or warmer?(with a plan)
  6. Gaps across zero(with a plan)
  7. Negative points on a grid(with a plan)
  8. Reading Temperatures Below Zero(with a plan)
  9. Temperatures across zero(with a plan)

Every Year 5 maths worksheet

The worksheets plan opens a printable sheet for every lesson in Years 1 to 6, each with its answers on a separate page for you. It costs £6.99 a month or £59 a year for the whole family, with no free trial.

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