Does the Order Matter?

This Instructional Activity is a part of the Lesson 6, Unit 5, Grade 7. In this activity, students see that if you reverse the order of the two numbers in a subtraction expression, you get the same magnitude with the opposite sign. This prepares them for the next activity, in which they will contrast the difference and the distance between two numbers. In this activity, no supports are given or suggested and students are free to use any strategy to find the differences.