Let’s Take a Ride on a Hot Air Balloon

Let’s Take a Ride on a Hot Air Balloon is a Grade 7 integer activity that models addition and subtraction with vertical movement. Hot-air bags represent positive values that lift the balloon, sandbags represent negative values that pull it down, and ground level represents zero. Students move a balloon along a vertical number line to see how adding or removing positive and negative quantities changes position.

Use it as a whole-class visual model when students are building meaning for integer operations. The balloon context is especially helpful for showing why adding a negative and subtracting a positive can produce the same movement. Create a free Find a Math Game account to generate lesson support for Let’s Take a Ride on a Hot Air Balloon. No credit card, with 3 lifetime lesson generations.