options: Operations & Algebra: students learn to solve problems using algebraic thinking and operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. They may learn to identify and explain arithmetic patterns, evaluate or manipulate numerical expressions, and reason with equations and inequalities.

Ratios & Proportional Relationships: students learn to recognize, describe, represent, and reason with ratios, rates, proportional relationships, and percent.

Modeling: students learn to choose and use appropriate mathematics and statistics to analyze real-world empirical situations, improve decisions, and report on their conclusions and the reasoning behind them.

Number Systems and Quantity: students learn to understand the complex number system and reason quantitatively.

Geometry: students learn to classify geometric figures by their properties, and understand and compare the relationships between them. Students develop and use formulas to compute lengths, areas, and volumes, and they use transformations to generate new shapes and compare existing ones. Geometry can be studied with and without coordinates.

Measurement & Data: students learn to work with data and measure attributes such as time, money, length, area, and volume. They may learn to compare measurements to operations and convert between different units of measure.

Number & Operations - Fractions: students learn to understand fractions as numbers and may work with them using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Number & Operations in Base Ten: students learn to work with the base-ten system and build place value understanding.

Counting & Cardinality: students learn to know number names and the count sequence, count to tell the number of objects, and compare numbers.

Functions: students learn to define, use, and evaluate functions to model relationships between quantities.

Statistics & Probability: students learn to analyze and produce data distributions, and build understanding of univariate and bivariate data. They learn to interpret data, make statistical inferences, justify conclusions, understand rules of probability, and use probability to make decisions.
problem_activity: Activity
Students extend their understanding of exponents to include negative exponents and explain patterns in the placements of the decimal point when a decimal is multiplied by 10 or
\(\frac{1}{10}\)
. Students use repeated reasoning to recognize that negative powers of 10 represent repeated multiplication by
\(\frac{1}{10}\)
and generalize to the rule
\(10^{\text- n} = \frac{1}{10^n}\)
(MP8).
A table is used to show different representations of decimals, fractions, and exponents. The table is horizontal to mimic the structure of decimals. As students work, notice the strategies they use to go between the different representations of the given powers of 10. Ask students who use contrasting strategies to share later.
Launch
Tell students to complete the table one row at a time to see the patterns most clearly. Ask a student to read the first question aloud. Select a student to explain the idea of a “multiplier” in this context. Give students 5–7 minutes to work. Follow with a whole-class discussion.
Student Facing
Complete the table to explore what negative exponents mean.
[IMG]
As you move toward the left, each number is being multiplied by 10. What is the multiplier as you move right?
How does a multiplier of 10 affect the placement of the decimal in the product?  How does the other multiplier affect the placement of the decimal in the product?
Use the patterns you found in the table to write
\(10^{\text -7}\)
as a fraction.
Use the patterns you found in the table to write
\(10^{\text -5}\)
as a decimal.
Write
\(\frac{1}{100,000,000}\)
using a single exponent.
Use the patterns in the table to write
\(10^{\text -n}\)
as a fraction.
Student Response
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Anticipated Misconceptions
Some students may think that, for example,
\(\frac{1}{1,000,000} = 10^{\text-7}\)
because the number 1,000,000 has 7 digits. Ask these students if it is true that
\(\frac{1}{10} = 10^{\text-2}\)
.
Activity Synthesis
One important idea is that multiplying by 10 increases the exponent, thus multiplying by
\(\frac{1}{10}\)
decreases the exponent. So negative exponents can be thought of as repeated multiplication by
\(\frac{1}{10}\)
, whereas positive exponents can be thought of as repeated multiplication by
\(10\)
. Another key point is the effect that multiplying by 10 or
\(\frac{1}{10}\)
has on the placement of the decimal.
Ask students to share how they converted between fractions, decimals, and exponents. Record their reasoning for all to see. Here are some possible questions to consider for whole-class discussion:
“Do you agree or disagree? Why?”
“Did anyone think of this a different way?”
“In your own words, what does
\(10^{\text- 7}\)
mean? How is it different from
\(10^7\)
?”
Introduce the visual display for
\(10^{\text- n} = \frac{1}{10^n}\)
and display it for all to see throughout the unit. For an example that illustrates the rule, consider displaying
\(10^{\text- 3} = \frac{1}{10} \boldcdot \frac{1}{10} \boldcdot \frac{1}{10} = \frac{1}{10^3}\)
.
Representation: Internalize Comprehension.
Demonstrate and encourage students to use color coding and annotations to highlight connections. For example, annotate the patterns students notice to help synthesize how negative exponents can be thought of as repeated multiplication by
\(\frac{1}{10}\)
, whereas positive exponents can be thought of as repeated multiplication by
\(10\)
.
Supports accessibility for: Visual-spatial processing
Conversing, Representing, Writing: MLR2 Collect and Display.
During the whole-class discussion, capture the vocabulary and phrases students use to describe their strategies for converting between fractions, decimals, and exponents. Listen for students who make connections between repeated multiplication and the placement of the decimal point. Record this language onto a visual display that can be referenced in future discussions. This routine provides feedback to students that supports sense-making and increases meta-awareness of mathematical language.
Design Principle(s): Support sense-making; Maximize meta-awareness


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