Kym used the integer tiles to find the sum of (–3) + 6. The line showed that the answer is negative 3. Which of the following does Kym need to do to get the correct answer?

Question

add three more negative tiles
remove the zero pairs
add three more positive tiles
remove three positive tiles

Answer 1

To find the sum of (-3) + 6, Kym should first visualize this with integer tiles. The sum indicates combining three negative tiles and six positive tiles.

1. Start with three negative tiles: (-3)
2. Add six positive tiles: (+6)

In total, you can first remove the three negative tiles using three of the positive tiles (which would form zero pairs), leaving you with three positive tiles remaining. Therefore, the correct result should be:

-3 + 6 = 3

Kym's result of negative 3 seems to imply there was confusion in the calculation. To correct her answer, Kym needs to:

Remove the zero pairs.

By removing the zero pairs (the combinations of one negative and one positive tile), she will see that she is left with three positive tiles, which leads to the correct answer of positive 3.