The Crabby Apple restaurant lost $2000 in the month of January. If their net worth at the end of the month is -$200, explain how you would show a child how to find their net worth at the beginning of the month.

Answer 1

if they lost 2000 from their starting value, you need to gain that much to get back to where they started:

-200 + 2000 = 1800

use the number line to show how losing money means going to the left, and gaining it moves to the right.