CCSS.Math.Content.6.NS.C.7
The standard
Understand ordering and absolute value of rational numbers.
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics · The Number System
What this standard means
Students need to compare and order positive and negative rational numbers, including fractions and decimals. They should place them on number lines, use inequality symbols correctly, and explain what absolute value means as distance from zero.
Mastery looks like a student saying that -7 is less than -3 because it is farther left, while |−7| is greater than |−3| because 7 is farther from zero. Common trouble spots are thinking bigger digits always mean bigger numbers, mixing up value and absolute value, and reading negative decimals or fractions on a number line.
Ways to teach it
- Give pairs a clothesline number line, number cards with fractions and decimals, and clothespins to order them from least to greatest.
- Ask students to write which is greater, -4.5 or -2.25, then explain using both a number line and absolute value.
- Use four quick questions: compare two negatives, order three rationals, find an absolute value, and place one fraction on a number line.
- Connect to bank accounts by comparing debts and deposits, then ask which balance is lower and which amount is farther from zero.
Plan a lesson for CCSS.Math.Content.6.NS.C.7
Generate a complete lesson plan aligned to this standard, with objectives, activities, and materials. Free, no account needed.
Related standards
- CCSS.Math.Content.6.NS.C.7c
Understand the absolute value of a rational number as its distance from 0 on the number line; interpret absolute value as magnitude for a positive or negative q...
- CCSS.Math.Content.HSN-RN.B
Use properties of rational and irrational numbers.
- CCSS.Math.Content.6.NS.C
Apply and extend previous understandings of numbers to the system of rational numbers.
- CCSS.Math.Content.6.NS.C.7b
Write, interpret, and explain statements of order for rational numbers in real-world contexts.