SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

Lesson Overview
This lesson plan is based NY Engage lesson Grade 8 Modulo 1 Topic B Lessons 9,10,13
Student outcomes:

Students continue to practice working with very small and very large numbers expressed in
scientific notation.
Students read, write, and perform operations on numbers expressed in scientific notation.

Standards
National Standards
Common Core Math Standards
8-EE.3: Use numbers expressed in the form of a single digit times a whole-number 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
times 10⁸ and the population of the world as 7 times 10⁹, and
determine that the world population is more than 20 times larger.
8-EE.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.

Prerequisite Knowledge

Materials
Helpful Information for Teachers
Documents
Day 1 Question Sheets.docx (12KB)
Day 2 Question Sheet.docx (11KB)
Day 3 Question Sheet.docx (11KB)
Calculator Step By Step.docx (10KB)

Web Links
Video For Day 1

Instructional Plans
Engage 1 (5-10 min)
1. Engage Details
Engage Description:

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 Provide students with the following message and explain that it is too long to send as a
text:
Dear Ayla,
Today, while walking home from school, I got drenched in the rain. I can't believe it! My
book bag wasn't zipped all the way, and my papers got soaked. I can't read our
homework assignment. Can you send it to me?
Thank you so much!
Jenny
Ask students to rewrite the message in shortened form. After discussing what students
did to shorten the message, ask them for examples of other words, phrases, or names
that are shortened (for example, NBA for National Basketball Association, Dr. for
Doctor, and AK for Alaska). Ask, Why do we shorten these? Explain that in
mathematics and science, very large or extreme numbers are also shortened.

Explore 1 (10-15 min)

1. Explore Details
Explore Description:
Give the students the following

The population of the world is about 7,117,000,000.

The distance from Earth to the Sun is about 92,960,000 miles.
The human body contains approximately 60,000,000,000,000 to 90,000,000,000,000
cells.
The mass of a particle of dust is 0.000000000753 kg.
The length of the shortest wavelength of visible light (violet) is 0.0000004 meters.

Ask them if their is any way to shorten these numbers without changing the value.

Explain 1 (10-15 min)

1. Explain Details
Explain Description:
Show the students the video fromhttps://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/muen-math-
ee-scientificnotation/scientific-notation/. (Video Link also provided in Teacher Material)
Give them five minutes to redo their questions from the last segment.
Have students share out their answers.

Explore 2 (15-20 min)

1. Explore Details
Explore Description:
Give studnets the question
In 2010, Americans generated 2.5 × 10^8 tons of garbage. There are about 2,000
landfills in the United States. Assuming that each landfill is the same size and that
trash is divided equally among them, determine how many tons of garbage were sent
to each landfill in 2010.
Allow them to solve this.
Then Give them
Actually, not all garbage went to landfills. Some of it was recycled and composted. The
amount of recycled and composted material accounted for about 85 million tons of the
2.5 × 10^8 tons of garbage. Given this new information, how much garbage was actually
sent to each landfill?

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 Allow them to solve.

Explain 2 (10-15 min)

1. Explain Details
Explain Description:
Have students come up to the board to show their work for each of the previous
problems,
The first solution should be:Each landfill received 1.25 × 10^5 tons of garbage in 2010.
The second solution should be:Each landfill actually received 8.25 × 10^4 tons of
garbage in 2010.

Extend 1 (15-20 min)

1. Extend Details
Extend Description:
There is 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic in our oceans. How can you express that in
scientific notation? How does it compare to the ammount that is recycled and the
ammount that ends up in the landfill? Put them in order from least to greatest.
Can be assigned as homework.

Engage 2 (10-15 min)

1. Engage Details
Engage Description:
Discuss yesterdays/last night's extend questions. what did the students discover? How
did it impact their thinking or feelings?

Explore 3 (10-15 min)

1. Explore Details
Explore Description:
Ask students
Among the galaxies closest to Earth, M82 is about 1.15 × 107 light-years away, and Leo
I Dwarf is about 8.2 × 105 lightyears away. Which is closer?
Have students discuss their answers.

Extend 2 (5-10 min)

1. Extend Details
Extend Description:
If studens have their own calculator, have them pull it out. If not use school calculators.
First turn on the calculaor
Next hit mode (it is the button at the top next to thee blue button)
Hit the side arrow so that the blinking recangle is over SCi
Hit enter
Hit the 2nd (the blue button) mode

Explore 4 (5-10 min)

1. Explore Details
Explore Description:

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 With this new technological knowledge, have the students answer
Many subatomic particles are unstable: charged pions have an average lifetime of
2.603 × 10−8 seconds, while muons have an average lifetime of 2.197 ×
10−6 seconds. Which has a longer average lifetime?

Contributed by:
Jennah Jacobs, Manhattan College, NY

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