Negative numbers are numbers that are to the left of zero on a number line. For negative numbers as well as positive numbers, numbers farther to the right are larger than numbers to their left. That means when you move to the right on the number line, numbers get larger. When you move to the left on the number line, the numbers get smaller. For that reason, we say that counting to the right is counting in the positive direction and counting to the left is counting in the negative direction.
In this lesson, students use what they know about how positive and negative numbers are arranged by size on the number line. Numbers get larger moving to the right and smaller moving to the left.
Using this knowledge, students place positive and negative numbers on a number line.