Mrs. Sol's Class: March 2020

Thursday, March 19, 2020

We've Got the Power!

7:07 AM 0 Comments 5.NBT.2, CCSS, exponents, fifth grade, math, powers of ten

This week we're SUPER excited to learn about the SUPER Power of Ten! Using exponents is an efficient way to write numbers that have a few too many zeeeeeros.

Here are the vocabulary words for this lesson:

powers of ten

base number

exponent

The exponent (or power) tells us how many zeros are in the number when the base number is 10.

The image below has a place for everything with everything in its place. The base can be any whole number, but today we are only focusing on the POWERS of TEN!

The number above really means 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000.

(exponent of 3 = 3 zeros)

Multiplying with powers of ten is SUPER fun! When multiplying a whole number by a power of ten, just count how many zeros you have and attached that to the whole number! If you use exponents, they'll tell you how many zeros you need. Just ask 'em.

Now for DIVISION...

The video below will explain how to use the power of ten to quickly divide numbers. The SUPER cool thing is that you can do all of this in your head.

Dividing a number makes it smaller. When dealing with powers of ten, you just move the decimal to calculate your answer. In class today we remembered that a whole number has an invisible decimal on its right.

When you multiply or divide by powers of 10, you just change the location of the decimal point. you can multiply by powers of 10 simply by moving the decimal point to the right the number of places shown by the exponent on the 10 (or the number of zeros in the power of 10, if written out). when dividing, move the decimal point to the left the number of places shown by the power of 10. remember that the decimal point is always located after the ones place, so in the whole number 23, the decimal point is located after the 3 ones.