Exponents Introduction

Objectives:

• Students will learn what a base is and what an exponent is.

• Students will learn that exponents are a shortcut for multiplication.

• Students will learn to evaluate terms with exponents.

• Students will practice evaluating terms with exponents.

Suggested Grades:

Sixth Grade - Seventh Grade - Eighth Grade - Ninth Grade - including special education students

Lesson Procedure:

Print the classroom lesson plan and worksheet questions (see below).

Lesson Excerpt:

- Note: Calculator use will be helpful to all students when teaching this unit.

-"When we start working in Algebra, there is another short cut that we are going to use and see a lot of. This short cut is called an exponent."
- On Board: An Exponent is a shortcut for multiplication.
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- "This is an example of a number with an exponent. How many of you have seen this before?"
- Look around the room and note the prior knowledge in the class. This will give you an idea how many students have prior experience working with exponents, and how many do not.
- "Alright, in this example, the 6 is called the base. The 2 is called the exponent."
- On Board: The exponent tells us how many times to multiply the base by itself.

Continued...