KS4 Maths Lesson Plan:
Standard Form
Lesson plan by
Laura Radford
Background:
Standard form is a necessary focus for the Higher KS4 Maths course but it is often an
area that students can struggle with, especially in the move between converting from
a number in standard form to actually calculating with them.
Aim:
My aim is to first get students to understand positive powers of ten, and look at the
pattern to extend this to negative powers. I then go onto the criteria needed for
standard form and how the powers of ten relate to this. Once pupils can convert to
and from standard form, then the focus is on calculating with standard form.
The activity:
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I begin this lesson by using a slide from the
Boardworks KS4 presentation on standard form
(slide 2). The slide shows index notation up to 10²
and then asks students to continue up to 10 to the
power of 6. I would then discuss the patterns that
we see and ask the class how we could extend this
to a power of zero and negative powers. I explain
that the index tells us how many 0s will follow the 1
(this is only true for positive integer powers of ten),
remembering that students often confuse powers
with multiples and reinforce the idea of a power as
a number, in this case 10, repeatedly multiplied by
itself.
Free sample slide
Standard form, slide 2
Moving towards the main part of the lesson, I show
the class slide 3 and discuss the criteria needed for
standard form.
Free sample slide
Standard form, slide 3
Boardworks Ltd, The Gallery, 54 Marston Street, Oxford, OX4 1LF
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KS4 Maths Lesson Plan:
Circle Theorems
Lesson continued...
I would then ask pupils to use mini whiteboards
to answer the self-marking questions from slide
4, which tests them on which numbers are not in
standard form.
I then tend to work through the rest of the
presentation that demonstrates to the students
how to write large numbers and small numbers in
standard form.
Free sample slide
Srandard form, slide 4
As an extension exercise I turn to the Boardworks
slide 5 that contextualises ordering numbers in
standard form by getting them to drag the planet
diameters into the correct order. I discuss with
them what it is about a number in standard form
that dictates the size of a number.
I conclude the lesson by talking about calculating
in standard form and linking back to slide 4 when
answers are not in standard form.
Free sample slide
Standard form, slide 5
As a plenary I often pose the question: How long would it take a space ship travelling
at an average speed of 2.6 × 103 km/h to reach Mars 8.32 × 107 km away? I would use
another lesson to consolidate and concentrate on calculations.
Outcomes:
The learning outcomes achieved in this lesson are that students should now:
•
Be able to convert from and to standard form
•
Be able to order numbers in standard form
•
Start to calculate with numbers in standard form
I think that going through positive and negative powers, ordering and calculating in
one lesson enables students to see the bigger picture of this topic. They enjoy it as it
has a link to other subjects (i.e. taking examples from science with planet sizes) and
the interactive slides are entertaining and provoke good conversations about common
misconceptions with this topic.
If you enjoyed this lesson plan then why not order a free sample disc at
www.boardworks.co.uk/maths?