Every real number can be classified as positive, negative or zero. And you can use bath products to teach this!
We attended the Dad 2.0 Summit a couple of weeks ago. Husband scored some really neat Dove Men Care products. I asked for a set too.
I was lathering myself up in the shower and starting to smell rather manly. I wondered if there was an equivalent Dove product that had a super intense, feminine smell.
Which made me think of the number line.
Negative, Positive and Zero.
People often ask me about zero — is it positive or negative?
Every number is is either positive, negative or zero. Those are the three possible “states” — and each number is exactly one of them.
That’s why we sometimes use the term “non-negative.” Non-negative doesn’t mean positive. It means a number that is either positive or zero.
It’s a subtle difference but super important.
But teaching it with Dove Body Wash? Really?
Yes!
There are three general marketing tactics for body wash — male, female and “neutral.”
This can correspond with the positive, negative and zero of the numbers!
(Of course which you choose as positive or negative depends on you — my favorite person happens to be my husband — a male — so I picked for men as the positive numbers in my graph.)
You can even reinforce the math language.
Suppose you’re in the shower and you notice you’re out of body wash. You can call to your child and ask, “Will you bring me some Dove Men Care body wash.”
Which is like saying, “Bring me some positive body wash.”
Or you can say, “Please bring me some body wash — anything as long as it’s not that girly-smelling Dove Purely Pampering stuff your mom uses!”
Which is equivalent to saying, “I want the non-negative body wash.”
How about it?
What do you have in your shower or tub that you can illustrate positive, negative and zero with? Will you give it a shot?
Share your thoughts in the comments or on twitter/x. And don’t forget to pin this on Pinterest!
