Standard and Scientific Notation Lesson Plan: Expressions and Equations

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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Standard and Scientific Notation. It supports the standard of performing operations with numbers expressed in scientific notation, including problems that use both decimal and scientific notation. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Ask students:

• What do you already know about exponents? How do they affect a number?
• When might it be helpful to use an exponent in real life?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

• Read the description on the Standard and Scientific Notation topic page.
• Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding. 
• Assign Related Reading and have students read one of the articles. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.
  

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign Standard and Scientific Notation Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about standard and scientific notation while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

• Make-a-Movie: Produce a tutorial explaining the meaning of the exponent in scientific notation. Include example expressions. 
• Make-a-Map: Create a concept map sequencing the steps to convert a number from standard to scientific notation.
• Creative Coding: Code a math problem involving scientific notation. Challenge a classmate to solve.

More to Explore 

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of standard and scientific notation with these topics: Exponents, Multiplying and Dividing Exponents, and Polynomials.

Teacher Support Resources:

• Pause Point Overview: Video tutorial showing how Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas. 
• Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
• Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.