Math / 8th Grade / Unit 1: Exponents and Scientific Notation
Students learn to simplify complex-looking exponential expressions, and they learn efficient ways to describe, communicate, and operate with very large and very small numbers.
Math
Unit 1
8th Grade
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In Unit 1, eighth grade students learn how complex-looking expressions and very large or small numbers can be represented in simpler ways. Through investigation, students discover ways to write equivalent exponential expressions, and then formalize their understanding of these strategies into properties of exponents. Later in the unit, they learn efficient ways to describe, communicate, and operate with very large and very small numbers. Though there are many procedural elements in this unit, underneath these procedures are strong conceptual understandings. Throughout the unit, students look for structures and patterns that exist in exponential terms and powers of ten, and use those structures and patterns to make generalizations (MP.7 and MP.8).
In sixth grade, students wrote and evaluated expressions with exponents using the order of operations. They identified the parts of an expression, distinguishing a term from a factor from a coefficient. In eighth grade, students expand on these skills to go beyond just evaluation. They are presented with exponentials such as $$\frac{3^{16}}{3^4}$$ or $$(x^2y)^5$$ and are asked to simplify them or represent them in equivalent ways. In this way, students hone their abilities to manipulate algebraic expressions, which they will continue to do in future units in eighth grade. In fourth and fifth grades, students investigated patterns in powers of ten and how those patterns related to place value. In this unit, students will access these prior concepts and use them in representing and working with very large and small numbers.
In high school, students will need a strong understanding of exponents and exponent properties. They will apply the properties of exponents to exponential equations in order to reveal new understandings of the relationship. They will work with fractional exponents and discover the properties of rational exponents and rational numbers. In general, students’ ability to see the structure in an expression will support them in manipulating quadratic functions, operating with polynomials, and making connections between various relationships.
Pacing: 19 instructional days (15 lessons, 3 flex days, 1 assessment day)
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The following assessments accompany Unit 1.
Have students complete the Pre-Unit Assessment and Pre-Unit Student Self-Assessment before starting the unit. Use the Pre-Unit Assessment Analysis Guide to identify gaps in foundational understanding and map out a plan for learning acceleration throughout the unit.
Pre-Unit Student Self-Assessment
Have students complete the Mid-Unit Assessment.
Use the resources below to assess student mastery of the unit content and action plan for future units.
Post-Unit Assessment
Post-Unit Assessment Answer Key
Post-Unit Self-Assessment
Use student data to drive your planning with an expanded suite of unit assessments to help gauge students’ facility with foundational skills and concepts, as well as their progress with unit content.
Suggestions for how to prepare to teach this unit
Unit Launch
Prepare to teach this unit by immersing yourself in the standards, big ideas, and connections to prior and future content. Unit Launches include a series of short videos, targeted readings, and opportunities for action planning.
The central mathematical concepts that students will come to understand in this unit
Terms and notation that students learn or use in the unit
base
exponential expression
exponent
power
properties of exponents
scientific notation
standard form/decimal form
To see all the vocabulary for Unit 1, view our 8th Grade Vocabulary Glossary.
The materials, representations, and tools teachers and students will need for this unit
To see all the materials needed for this course, view our 8th Grade Course Material Overview.
Topic A: Review of Exponents
Review exponent notation and identify equivalent exponential expressions.
8.EE.A.1
Evaluate numerical and algebraic expressions with exponents using the order of operations.
Investigate patterns of exponents with positive/negative bases and even/odd bases.
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Topic B: Properties of Exponents
Investigate exponent patterns to write equivalent expressions.
Apply the product of powers rule and the quotient of powers rule to write equivalent, simplified exponential expressions.
Apply the power of powers rule and power of product rule to write equivalent, simplified exponential expressions.
Reason with zero exponents to write equivalent, simplified exponential expressions.
Reason with negative exponents to write equivalent, simplified exponential expressions.
Simplify and write equivalent exponential expressions using all exponent rules.
Topic C: Scientific Notation
Write large and small numbers as powers of 10.
8.EE.A.3 8.EE.A.4
Define and write numbers in scientific notation.
8.EE.A.3
Compare numbers written in scientific notation.
Multiply and divide with numbers in scientific notation. Interpret scientific notation on calculators.
8.EE.A.4
Add and subtract with numbers in scientific notation.
Solve multi-step applications using scientific notation and properties of exponents.
8.EE.A.1 8.EE.A.3 8.EE.A.4
Key
Major Cluster
Supporting Cluster
Additional Cluster
The content standards covered in this unit
8.EE.A.1 — Know and apply the properties of integer exponents to generate equivalent numerical expressions. For example, 3² × 3<sup>-5</sup> = 3<sup>-3</sup> = 1/3³ = 1/27.
8.EE.A.3 — Use numbers expressed in the form of a single digit times an integer 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 × 10<sup>8</sup> and the population of the world as 7 × 10<sup>9</sup>, and determine that the world population is more than 20 times larger.
8.EE.A.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.
Standards covered in previous units or grades that are important background for the current unit
6.EE.A.1 — Write and evaluate numerical expressions involving whole-number exponents.
6.EE.A.2 — Write, read, and evaluate expressions in which letters stand for numbers.
6.EE.A.2.C — Evaluate expressions at specific values of their variables. Include expressions that arise from formulas used in real-world problems. Perform arithmetic operations, including those involving whole-number exponents, in the conventional order when there are no parentheses to specify a particular order (Order of Operations). For example, use the formulas V = s³ and A = 6 s² to find the volume and surface area of a cube with sides of length s = 1/2.
4.NBT.A.1 — Recognize that in a multi-digit whole number, a digit in one place represents ten times what it represents in the place to its right. For example, recognize that 700 ÷ 70 = 10 by applying concepts of place value and division.
5.NBT.A.1 — Recognize that in a multi-digit number, a digit in one place represents 10 times as much as it represents in the place to its right and 1/10 of what it represents in the place to its left.
5.NBT.A.2 — Explain patterns in the number of zeros of the product when multiplying a number by powers of 10, and explain patterns in the placement of the decimal point when a decimal is multiplied or divided by a power of 10. Use whole-number exponents to denote powers of 10.
7.NS.A.2 — Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division and of fractions to multiply and divide rational numbers.
Standards in future grades or units that connect to the content in this unit
A.APR.D.6 — Rewrite simple rational expressions in different forms; write <sup>a(x </sup>/<sub>b(x)</sub> in the form q(x) + <sup>r(x)</sup>/<sub>b(x)</sub>, where a(x), b(x), q(x), and r(x) are polynomials with the degree of r(x) less than the degree of b(x), using inspection, long division, or, for the more complicated examples, a computer algebra system.
A.APR.D.7 — Understand that rational expressions form a system analogous to the rational numbers, closed under addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division by a nonzero rational expression; add, subtract, multiply, and divide rational expressions.
N.RN.A.1 — Explain how the definition of the meaning of rational exponents follows from extending the properties of integer exponents to those values, allowing for a notation for radicals in terms of rational exponents. For example, we define 5<sup>1/3</sup> to be the cube root of 5 because we want (5<sup>1/3</sup>)³ = 5(<sup>1/3</sup>)³ to hold, so (5<sup>1/3</sup>)³ must equal 5.
N.RN.A.2 — Rewrite expressions involving radicals and rational exponents using the properties of exponents.
A.SSE.A.2 — Use the structure of an expression to identify ways to rewrite it. For example, see x<sup>4</sup> — y<sup>4</sup> as (x²)² — (y²)², thus recognizing it as a difference of squares that can be factored as (x² — y²)(x² + y²).
A.SSE.B.3.C — Use the properties of exponents to transform expressions for exponential functions. For example the expression 1.15<sup>t</sup> can be rewritten as (1.151/12)<sup>12t</sup> 1.012<sup>12t</sup> to reveal the approximate equivalent monhly interest rate if the annual rate is 15%.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP1 — Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP2 — Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP3 — Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP4 — Model with mathematics.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP5 — Use appropriate tools strategically.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP6 — Attend to precision.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP7 — Look for and make use of structure.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP8 — Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Unit 2
Solving One-Variable Equations