Education Technology


Exponent Rules

Activity Overview

This activity allows students to work independently to discover rules for working with exponents, such as the Power of a Power rule. Students also investigate the value of a power whose exponent is zero or negative. As an optional extension, students investigate the value of a power whose exponent is a fraction with a numerator of one.

Key Steps

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    On page 1.2, have students evaluate the expression in the lower left pane by selecting various values for m and n by manipulating the corresponding sliders.  (Pressing CTRL + TAB will allow students to move between applications in a split window.)

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    Repeat a similar process for the rule on page 1.4, known as the Quotient of Powers rule.

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    Finally, on page 1.6 students explore the Power of a Power rule.