Flexible problem solving with scientific notation

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Objective

SWBAT solve problems involving scientific notation flexibly.

Big Idea

How many times more massive is an elephant compared to an ant?

Lesson Author

Jeff Li MTP

New York, NY

Grade Level

Eighth grade

Subjects

Math

Number Sense and Operations

Exponents

Standards

8.EE.A.1

Know and apply the properties of integer exponents to generate equivalent numerical expressions. For example, 32 Ã 3-5 = 3-3 = 1/33 = 1/27.

8.EE.A.3

Use numbers expressed in the form of a single digit times an integer power of 10 to estimate very large or very small quantities, and to express how many times as much one is than the other. For example, estimate the population of the United States as 3 Ã 108 and the population of the world as 7 Ã 109, and determine that the world population is more than 20 times larger.

8.EE.A.4

Perform operations with numbers expressed in scientific notation, including problems where both decimal and scientific notation are used. Use scientific notation and choose units of appropriate size for measurements of very large or very small quantities (e.g., use millimeters per year for seafloor spreading). Interpret scientific notation that has been generated by technology.

8.EE.B.5

Graph proportional relationships, interpreting the unit rate as the slope of the graph. Compare two different proportional relationships represented in different ways. For example, compare a distance-time graph to a distance-time equation to determine which of two moving objects has greater speed.

MP1

Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

MP2

Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

Warm Up

10 minutes

Each day, students complete a Warmup that usually consists of spiraling the previous day's material, in addition to older material. Warm-up problems also sometimes extend lessons that students have encountered before to more unfamiliar contexts.

For a video narrative about how I structure each lesson, and how the warm-up fits in, click here.

See a video of the warm-up from today here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6R42-MUCng

Play of the Day

40 minutes

For today's lesson I captured several video resources to portray the lesson in detail. The videos provide a sense of my classroom climate, as well as my students' fluency with problem solving using numbers in scientific notation. During this video students are working on POTD86 Flexible problem-solving with scientific notation:

Huddle

10 minutes

For the Huddle in this lesson, we walk through the very complex question about comparing the total mass of ants to the total mass of humans, and come to the answer. I try not to do too much of the thinking for the kids here... They should be the ones doing the heavy lifting.

See Jeff Li Better Lesson Master Teacher Round 2 Evidence for a detailed presentation of examples of student work with teacher commentary.