Constructing and interpreting absolute value

The topic  appears under the 7th Grade Math Mission. This exercise practices using the absolute value in context and as a distance measurement.

Types of Problems
There are two types of problems in this exercise:


 * 1) Select the correct answer: This problem provides a situational problem and asks for information. The answer choice is provided in a multiple choice format on the right side of the screen.Caiav1.png
 * 2) Enter the correct answer: This problem gives a word problem and this time the student is asked to find the answer and type it in the space provided.Caiav2.png

Strategies
Thinking of absolute value as a distance (rather than "turning things positive") can make these problems easier, although it is not necessary.
 * 1) The expression |x-y| means the magnitude of the distance between x and y.
 * 2) The answer to the multiple choice type problem is almost always the expression that has the absolute value of a difference. The only exception research has found is where the answer was "is equal to |x-y|" as opposed to being smaller or greater than this amount.
 * 3) If one object is above zero and the other is below zero, the distance between them can be found by adding their magnitudes.
 * 4) Decimals and fractions are permitted interchangeably.
 * 5) Remember that moving in a negative direction can be represented by a negative number. This is necessary on some of the Enter the correct answer problems.