Scientists use very large and very small numbers when measuring things. A Veritasium video explains how scientific notation simplifies these numbers. It offers examples of how to convert such numbers into scientific notation—and from scientific notation to standard notation.

Concepts

scientific notation, powers of 10

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Create a worksheet to practice using scientific notation
• Challenge scholars to come up with other measurements that are so large or so small that notation would be beneficial

Classroom Considerations

• Relies on prior knowledge of exponents, multiplication, and division

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Provides closed captioning for ELLs
• Ends with a challenge question and a link to learn the answer

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.6.2 SL.7.2 SL.8.2 SL.9-10.2 SL.11-12.2 RST.6-8.4 RST.9-10.4 RST.11-12.4