A football team tries to move the ball forward as many yards as possible on each
play, but sometimes they end up behind where they started. The distances, in
yards, that a team moves on its first five plays are 2, -1, 4, 3, and --5. A positive
number indicates moving the ball forward, and a negative number indicates
moving the ball backward.
Which number in the list is the greatest?
What is a better question to ask to find out which play went the farthest from
where the team started?
The coach considers any play that moves the team more than 4 yards from where
they started a "big play." Which play(s) are big plays?
3 When does it make sense to compare the absolute values of numbers rather than
the numbers themselves?