There is no strangeness of zero. It is very natural. You use it to count objects. 0,1,2, .. they have a good physical model: number of stones. It's just the teachers that insist on confusing kids. Also they are commonly called as 'natural numbers'. (Acknowledging the fact, that how they are called can't be a basis of an argument.)
Negative numbers however. They have no good physical models, at least that I know of. They are mostly just a tool to make accounting easier, or to denote one out of 2, indistinguishable cases (direction on the axis x, direction of angular velocity, electric charge). But the teachers don't insist confusing the kids with them.
Negative numbers however. They have no good physical models, at least that I know of. They are mostly just a tool to make accounting easier, or to denote one out of 2, indistinguishable cases (direction on the axis x, direction of angular velocity, electric charge). But the teachers don't insist confusing the kids with them.