Education Technology

How dense are we

Activity Time
30 Minutes
TI-Nspire Version
4.5
Resource Types
Lessons
Format
TNS

How dense are we

Activity Overview

In this activity students use scientific notation to compare populations, state land areas and the corresponding population density.

Objectives

  • Review of computation: order of operations, directed numbers, scientific notation, estimation, exact and approximate answers.

Vocabulary

  • Scientific notation
  • Population
  • Density
  • Significant figures

About the Lesson

Population values are interesting in that it doesn't make sense to talk about the number of people that live in a state or country as this quantity will most likely change whilst reading the actual value. Scientific notation and significant figures provide an order of magnitude which is a much better way of communicating such figures. This activity helps students learn how to use scientific notation on the TI-Nspire CX through the context of population, area and population density.

Activity Time
30 Minutes
TI-Nspire Version
4.5
Resource Types
Lessons
Format
TNS
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