Open Middle®
Directions: Using the integers -9 to 9 at most one time each, place an integer in each box to make a value that is as close to zero as possible without being exactly 0.
Hint
What kinds of numbers are closer to zero than 1? How can we tell whether 1/3 or -1/4 is closer to 0?
Answer
The closest you can get to zero without being exactly zero is 9^(-9).
Source: Robert Kaplinsky in Open Middle Math