Free Grade 3 Negative Numbers Lessons
Free Grade 3 lessons for Negative Numbers: 12 real questions with a full answer key and worked solutions. Integers include negative numbers. On a number line, adding moves right and subtracting moves left. Subtracting a negative is the same as adding.
Free
Core
20 min
24
Learning objectives
Every objective is checkable, and each one maps to an activity and an assessment.
- UnderstandExplain negative numbers
Explain negative numbers accurately in a familiar context.
Assessed by: Exit ticket of four short items
- ApplyCalculate negative numbers
Calculate negative numbers accurately in a familiar context.
Assessed by: Exit ticket of four short items
- AnalyseCompare negative numbers
Compare negative numbers accurately in a familiar context.
Assessed by: Exit ticket of four short items
- EvaluateJustify negative numbers
Justify negative numbers accurately in a familiar context.
Assessed by: Exit ticket of four short items
Prerequisites
Close these gaps first — each has its own free lesson, worksheet and quiz.
How Negative Numbers works
Integers include negative numbers. On a number line, adding moves right and subtracting moves left. Subtracting a negative is the same as adding.
12 practice questions
Easy to hard, 24 marks in total. Try them first, then open the answers.
- 1.-8 − 10 = ?[1]
- 2.-9 − (-4) = ?[1]
- 3.-8 + 1 = ?[1]
- 4.2 + (-2) = ?[1]
- 5.9 + (-1) = ?[2]
- 6.-18 + (-8) = ?[2]
- 7.1 × 11 = ?[2]
- 8.-14 + (-8) = ?[2]
- 9.-27 × 28 = ?[3]
- 10.22 + (-30) = ?[3]
- 11.-7 − 3 = ?[3]
- 12.30 × 23 = ?[3]
Show answers and working
1. -18
Subtracting 10 is the same as adding -10. -8 + (-10) = -18
2. -5
Subtracting (-4) is the same as adding 4. -9 + 4 = -5
3. -7
Start at -8 on a number line. Move 1 right. You land on -7.
4. 0
Start at 2 on a number line. Move 2 left. You land on 0.
5. 8
Start at 9 on a number line. Move 1 left. You land on 8.
6. -26
Start at -18 on a number line. Move 8 left. You land on -26.
7. 11
Multiply the sizes: 1 × 11 = 11. Same signs give positive, different signs give negative. Answer: 11
8. -22
Start at -14 on a number line. Move 8 left. You land on -22.
9. -756
Multiply the sizes: 27 × 28 = 756. Same signs give positive, different signs give negative. Answer: -756
10. -8
Start at 22 on a number line. Move 30 left. You land on -8.
11. -10
Subtracting 3 is the same as adding -3. -7 + (-3) = -10
12. 690
Multiply the sizes: 30 × 23 = 690. Same signs give positive, different signs give negative. Answer: 690
Worked examples
-5 − 5 = ?
- Subtracting 5 is the same as adding -5.
- -5 + (-5) = -10
- Answer: -10
-4 + (-12) = ?
- Start at -4 on a number line.
- Move 12 left.
- You land on -16.
- Answer: -16
24 × (-11) = ?
- Multiply the sizes: 24 × 11 = 264.
- Same signs give positive, different signs give negative.
- Answer: -264
- Answer: -264
Interactive practice
Free, no account required — answer on screen or print it.
Common mistakes
What learners typically get wrong, and how to fix it.
Thinks −8 is bigger than −3.
Correction: Further left on the number line means smaller.
Treats − (−4) as −4.
Correction: Two minus signs together become a plus.
Teacher tips
- · Use a vertical number line like a thermometer.
Parent tips
- · Compare winter temperatures from the weather forecast.
Real-life applications
- · Temperatures below zero, bank balances, floors below ground.
Assessment objectives
How mastery is evidenced, and which standards it maps to.
Every free resource for Negative Numbers
One concept, one ecosystem — all of it free.
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The entities below this one, each with the same complete free resource set.
Sibling concepts
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Learn — Meet the idea.
Practice — Build fluency.
Revise — Keep it in memory.
Assess — Prove mastery.
Apply — Use it in context.
Teach — Deliver it to a class.
Frequently asked
- Is this Grade 3 Negative Numbers lesson really free?
- Yes. Every lessons on FreeMathWorksheet is free to use, print and share — no account, no paywall and no watermark.
- What should a learner already know before this?
- Start with Number Formation. Each one has its own free lesson, worksheet and quiz.
- How is the lesson sequenced?
- Recognition first, then understanding, application, reasoning and finally mastery — the same ladder used across every free resource on the platform.
- What comes next after Negative Numbers?
- Move on to Integer Number Line, Adding Integers, Subtracting Integers, Multiplying Integers, which build directly on this idea.
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