Deeper and more difficult. These are the watchwords for seventh and eighth grade math in December.
The seventh grade pre-algebra class is reviewing decimals, percentages and fractions. This requires a deeper dive into place value ideas along the following lines:
 |
Here is a number.
|
 |
What do its digits mean? This is the standard way to think about place values.
|
 |
Or we can write the place values using numbers. This makes the powers of 10 clearer.
|
 |
So we see 10 squared and 10 to the first. But what about the question marks? Does the pattern break down?
|
 |
| Oh! The pattern continues. How are we to think about 10 to the zero power? Or 10 to a negative power? |
Here are some seventh graders delving into topics like this, and others:
