Lead Student Lesson Plan
L05: Introduction to Exponents
Objectives
By the end of the gathering, students will be able to:

Answer questions. There may be some in the class who are struggling and need some
help. Using some time to help them overcome the issues is great. However, spending too
much time on questions will take away from the activities that need group participation at
the end of the lesson. If questions take too long for the gathering, be sure to remind
everyone that tutoring is instantly available at byui.edu/mathhelp, and that they can get a
personal tutor to meet with them if they would like.

Review the Exam. Make sure everyone knows the retake policy and how to get help.

Use Calculators! Make sure everyone knows that after Exam 1, calculators are intended to
be used in the course. Don’t spend long on doing a lot of work by hand. Use the calculator
for arithmetic so that students can focus time and energy on the new concepts.
Encourage everyone to have their calculators at every gathering from now on.

Complete the math exercises. Exponents are shortcuts for repeated multiplication. Most
of this assignment can be done by using multiplication over and over again, but the
purpose of these exercises, especially the latter ones is to demonstrate how to use
exponents to make quick work of the solutions.
Student Preparation
Students were asked to prepare for gathering by completing specific activities and/or pondering
certain questions. Please refer to the gathering instructions in this week’s unit or lesson in the
course.
Lesson Outline
Below is a sample lesson plan. Feel free to adjust it to best fit the needs of your group. However,
try to make sure that the main things are still completed.
OPENING
Announcements,
Hymn, and Prayer
Announcements
(10 minutes)
Opening Hymn: Chosen by the Missionaries
Opening Prayer: By Invitation
Devotional
Lead Student
(5 minutes)
Below is a scripture that may be used for the devotional. You may also
choose one of your own.
Daniel 2:44-45
Exam discussion
Whole Class
(10-12 minutes)
Discuss the math exam taken last week. Ask the students the following
questions:
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Math Exercise 2.1
Part A
(5-10 minutes)
Were they happy with their scores?
Has everyone been able to access the tutors at
www.byui.edu/mathhelp?
Does everyone know how to go about doing a retake if they want to?
Do they want to have a group study session together for the next
exam?
What do they feel they can do to improve their scores on the next
exam?
Whole Class
Review this week’s Math Exercise 2.1 Part A homework problems. If there
are questions about the assignments, work out a few of the most difficult
problems together as a whole group or in small groups of 3-4 people.
Either A: Ask for a volunteer who understands the difficult problems and
can explain how to complete the problem. (It may help to remind people
that being able to explain something to someone else is a great way to
reinforce one’s own learning. Try to include everyone.)
Or B: In small groups, work through one or two of each type of problem in
the homework, letting each group decide which problems they want to work
through together.
Math Exercise 2.1
Part B
(25-30 minutes)
Small Groups
Work through the problems in Math Exercise 2.1 Part B; rotate the
responsibility to explain how to do each problem through the group. If a
student doesn’t know how to do a problem when it is their turn, they should
explain as much as possible and then the rest of the group should help
finish the problem. Then, the student should explain how to solve the
problem back to the group.
 #1-13: should be quick with calculators. Zip right through them, but
make sure that everyone knows how to punch them in their
calculators.
 #14, 15: Notice that each question sets up the answer to be a certain
power of 2. Some students will do it the long way by doubling,
doubling, and doubling some more. Point out that exponents are
exactly the tool for doing this problem. #14 can be obtained by 2 14,
and #15 can be found by 2 30.
 #16, 17: Calculator isn’t very helpful on these.
 #18-20: These should be set up by hand to make sure that you are
multiplying and dividing the right numbers, but use the calculators to
do the computations.
 #21-29: Zip through and have fun using the calculators.
 #30, 31: The tables are filled out by repeated multiplication by the
interest rate and then adding it on to the previous balance. Should be
quick with a calculator. Don’t worry if rounding causes a difference of
a cent or two from the given solutions after a couple of rows.
 #32: Let them test it out that multiplying by 1.05 is the same as
multiplying by .05 and then adding it back on to the original amount.
 #33-35: The grand finale of how cool exponents can be. Students
should get a little bored with filling out the whole table for the
previous two problems. Exponents are awesome. #33 can be found
by 100*(1.07)12 and #34 can be found by 100*(1.07)22. No big table
was needed. Make sure that everyone can then explain #35 with that
reasoning.
 Encourage them to get with tutors if it is still unclear.
CLOSING
Conclusion
Whole Class
(2 minutes)
As appropriate, bear your testimony as it pertains to this lesson, this course,
or your experiences with the math or personal finance concepts you have
learned.
Prayer
(2 minutes)
Closing Prayer: By Invitation
Note
Please download and print a copy of these instructions to use as a reference during Thursday's
Pathway Gathering.