One of the ways I demonstrate negative numbers to my students is to have them compute “plus\/minus” numbers. As in, points scored (plus) and points scored against (minus). Obviously you want a big “plus” number, and the good teams have it. Bad teams have a “big” minus number. (Only the absolute value is big, kids; the numbers actually get smaller and smaller as you subtract.)<\/p>\n
My hometown NFL team this season has scored, in total, 125 points in 10 games. That’s pretty awful. Worse is that they’ve given up 253.<\/p>\n
(I’ll give you a minute.)<\/p>\n
Yeah, negative 128.<\/p>\n
Ouch.<\/p>\n
Not the worst, however.<\/p>\n
The Cincinnati Bengals (one of the worst franchises in sports history) this year have scored 147 points and given up 276.<\/p>\n
Yup, it’s worse. Negative 129.<\/p>\n
(This is tomorrow’s bellringer, by the way.)<\/p>\n
So my local team is still not<\/em> the worst.<\/p>\n Barely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the ways I demonstrate negative numbers to my students is to have them compute “plus\/minus” numbers. As in, points scored (plus) and points scored against (minus). Obviously you want a big “plus” number, and the good teams have … Continue reading