1. Terry Scates Newton, Kansas
Scientific Notation
Terry Scates
Newton, Kansas

2. Instructor Notes Subject Area(s): Math Grade level: 7th grade
Lesson Length: 50 minute class period
Synopsis: Use scientific notation to write very large and very small numbers.
Objective/goals: Students will change numbers from standard form into scientific notation and from scientific notation back into standard form. 2

3. Instructor Notes
Standard: ▲equivalent representations of rational numbers and simple algebraic expressions, e.g., you are in the mountains. Wilson Mountain has an altitude of 5.28 x 103 feet. Rush Mountain is 4,300 feet tall. How much higher is Wilson Mountain than Rush Mountain? (KS standard A1a)
Pre-requisite skills: Vocabulary – Standard form, Scientific notation, exponent, base number.
TurningPoint functions: standard question slides
Materials: All instructional points and practice problems are provided within the power point slides. Practice questions are designed to be used with the TurningPoint clickers. 3

4. Lesson Outline Warm-up: Exponents / moving decimal
Setting the Stage: Powers of Ten Diagram
Definitions / Key Concepts
Guided practice: Turning Point Questions
Independent practice: Paper & pencil
Closure: Write about scientific notation

5. Write each power of ten in standard notation.
103 30
100
1000
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Answer Now

6. Write each power of ten in standard notation.
106 60
10000
:00
Answer Now

7. Write each power of ten in standard notation.
10-2
.01
-20
100
:00
Answer Now

8. Write each power of ten in standard notation.
10-4
-.0001
.0001
10000
:00
Answer Now

9. Power of Ten in Standard Notation
101 = = .1
102 = = .01
103 = 1, = .001
104 = 10, = .0001
105 = 100, =
106 = 1,000, =
107 = 10,000, =
108 = 100,000, =
109 = 1,000,000, =
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Answer Now

10. Changing Numbers From Standard Form to Scientific Notation

11. (scientific notation) Move the decimal point 7 places to the right.
4.075 x 10,000,000 = 40,750,000
(standard form)
4.075 x 107
(scientific notation)
Move the decimal point 7 places to the right.
4.075_ _ _ _
(add zeros to blank spaces)
40,750,000

12. Changing Numbers From Standard Form to Scientific Notation

13. (scientific notation)
3.2 x =
(standard form)
3.2 x 10-4
(scientific notation)
Move the decimal point 4 places to the left.
_ _ _ 3.2
(put zeros in the blank spaces)

14. Setting the Stage There are 325,000 grains of sand in this tub.
Write that number in scientific notation.

15. Answer
325,000 = 3.25 x 105 .

16. Video Clip Lesson from Teacher Tube
Click here to see the lesson
Click on the link at the right to access a lesson about scientific notation from Teacher Tube.

17. Definition
Scientific notation is a compact way of writing numbers with absolute values that are very large or very small.
Glencoe McGraw-Hill. Math connects cours 3. pages

18. Scientific notation to Standard Form
Multiplying by a positive power of 10 moves the decimal place to the right.
Multiplying by a negative power of 10 moves the decimal place to the left.
The number of places the decimal point moves is the absolute value of the exponent.
Glencoe McGraw-Hill. Math connects cours 3. pages

19. Standard Form to Scientific Notation
Move the decimal point to the right of the first nonzero digit.
Count the number of places you moved the decimal point.
Find the power of 10. If the absolute value of the original number was between 0 and 1, the exponent is negative. Otherwise, the exponent is positive.
Glencoe McGraw-Hill. Math connects cours 3. pages

20. What is 2.85 x 104 written in standard form?
285
28500
2850
:10
Answer Now

21. What is 3.085 x 107 written in standard form?
30,850,000
3085
308,500,000
:10
Answer Now

22. What is 1.55 x 10-3 written in standard form?
.00155
155
1550
:10
Answer Now

23. What is 2.7005 x 10-2 written in standard form?
270.05
27005
.27005
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Answer Now

24. Independent Practice Write in standard form:
4.76 x 106
6.21 x 103
3.16 x 105
5.44 x 10-6
4.32 x 10-4
7.8 x 10-6

25. Independent Practice Answer Key
4,760,000
6,210
316,000

26. Closure / Summary
What does a negative exponent tell you about writing the number in standard form?

27. References Glencoe McGraw-Hill Math Connects Course 2, Textbook, 2008
TeacherTube website which posted the video created by Studyzone.org
Wiens, James, Standard Notation, PowerPoint presentation, 27