What are negative values?

Negative values are numbers that tell us less than zero, like going below ground level when you dig a hole.

Imagine you have a toy box full of 5 red blocks. That’s positive, it means you have more than nothing. But if you take all 5 blocks out and keep digging, you’re now in the land of negative values, like having -5 blocks, which means you’ve taken away more than you had.

You see them every day. If it’s 10 degrees outside, and the temperature drops by 15 degrees, the new temperature is -5 degrees. That means it's colder than zero, just like digging below ground level.

Think of a bank account: if you have $10 in your piggy bank and you spend $15 on candy, your balance becomes -$5, that’s like owing your friend 5 dollars. Negative values help us count things we’ve lost or taken away.

Negative values are just numbers that go below zero, helping us describe situations where we have less than nothing! Negative values are numbers that tell us less than zero, like going below ground level when you dig a hole.

Imagine you have a toy box full of 5 red blocks. That’s positive, it means you have more than nothing. But if you take all 5 blocks out and keep digging, you’re now in the land of negative values, like having -5 blocks, which means you’ve taken away more than you had.