Course 3 Lesson

Power Up: Writing and Evaluating Numeric Exponents

Shared by A STEM Educator★ Featured Teacher · rated 90+ in our quality review

8th grade level IIBTC Style / Thinking Classrooms50 min

Learning Objective

Students will write repeated multiplication in exponential form and evaluate numeric expressions with whole-number, negative, and zero exponents accurately.

Lesson Overview

Students progress from reading exponential notation to evaluating expressions with integer and negative bases, then extend to comparing and simplifying expressions involving exponents. Each task changes exactly one variable to build deep conceptual understanding.

Materials

Vertical whiteboards or large chart paper
Dry-erase markers (multiple colors)
Pencils and paper for notes

Scaffolded Task Progression

1Task 1

Write each repeated multiplication as a power, then name the base and the exponent.

1.

5 \times 5 \times 5

4 \times 4 \times 4 \times 4

7 \times 7

2Task 2

Expand each power into repeated multiplication, then evaluate.

1.

3^{4}

2^{5}

6^{2}

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