Subscribe

7th grade · Math · Unit 13 of 20

Multiply & Divide Signed Numbers

Sign rules

What your child practices

Multiplying and dividing positive and negative numbers (including fractions), using the sign rules, and real-world changes such as falling temperatures.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: NY-7.NS.2 · multiplying and dividing rational numbers, including negative numbers

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Multiply or divide the numbers as usual.
  2. Same signs give a positive answer.
  3. Different signs give a negative answer.

Example: What is −6 × 4? 6 × 4 = 24. Different signs: negative. Answer: −24

Multiply & Divide Signed Numbers in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 13 of 20 in 7th grade Math, after Center & Spread and before Proportional Relationships.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What is −3 × (−5)?

    −3 × (−5) = ?

    answer box

  2. Question 2

    A change of −$10 is shared equally by 2 friends. What is each friend's change, in dollars?

    answer box

  3. Question 3

    The temperature falls 3 degrees every hour for 5 hours. What is the total change in temperature, in degrees? (Use a negative number for a fall.)

    answer box

  4. Question 4

    What is 48 ÷ (−8)?

    48 ÷ (−8) = ?

    answer box

  5. Question 5

    What is 1/3 × (−18)?

    • 6
    • -4
    • -6
    • -54

  6. Question 6

    Without multiplying: is 3 × (−1) × 1 positive or negative?

    • Negative
    • Positive

More 7th grade