A hospital numbers its two basement levels −1 and −2, its ground floor 0, and its wards 1, 2, 3 upward. A trolley is moved from ward 3 down to basement level −2. Write the change in level as an integer.

On the number line, the integer on the **right** is the **larger** one. So 5 > 2, but also −2 > −5. This often surprises students: even though 5 is bigger than 2, **−5 is smaller than −2**, because −5 is further to the left. Any positive integer is larger than any negative integer, and zero sits between them.