WEDNESDAY MATH DAY

Powers of Ten

What are the powers of ten? Students create mathematics manipulatives to explore powers of ten.


DURATION: 50 MINUTES
Materials


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sheets of 1/4-inch graph paper (amount depends on the number you want to illustrate)

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2 scissors per group
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1 roll clear tape per group


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1 roll butcher paper per class


What to do

GIVE each child a sheet of 1/4 inch graph paper. external image 1x.gifHave students DRAW an X in one square. A stamp may be used in place of an X. This X represents the number one (1). PRACTICE counting with one, i.e. "one desk", one student". WRITE a large one (1) on the left side of a chalkboard.


external image 10x.gifHave each child MAKE a strip of ten X's, CUT it out, and PASTE it on butcher paper. This row represents the number ten (10). PRACTICE counting with ten, i.e. "ten fingers", "ten pieces of chalk". WRITE a zero (0) next to the one (1) on the board to make a ten (10).


external image 100x.gifHave each group PASTE ten strips of ten X's together to make a block of100 on a sheet of butcher paper. This represents the number one hundred (100). PRACTICE counting with one hundred. WRITE a zero (0) next to the ten (10) on the board to make one hundred (100).


external image fingerstoes.gifHave the students PRACTICE by looking for one, ten, and a hundred in the world around them. EXAMPLE: About how many toes are in the classroom? Ten toes on ten children makes a hundred toes. If desired, this activity could be extended to a thousand, or even to a million.



SUNSHINE STATE STANDARD
Count to 100 by ones and by tens.