Lesson: Slick Sneakers

Before or after reading the article, discuss the following questions:

• How would the materials used in a sneaker design affect its cost?
• If you could design your own sneaker, what would it be like? How much would you charge for it and why?

• Write down the following numbers: 3.84, 384, 38.4
  
• How are these numbers alike? (They all have the same digits in the same order.)
• How are they different? (Answers will vary. Possible answers: They each have a different value; Some are decimal numbers.)
• How does the decimal point change the value of the 3 in each number? (The 3 is in the hundreds place in 384, in the tens place in 38.4, and in the ones place in 3.84. The location of the decimal point changes the value of the number.)
• How many times greater is 38.4 than 3.84? (10 times) How many times greater is 384 than 3.84? (100 times)
• Then play the math video “Powers of Ten.”

• What happens when the decimal point in a number moves to the left? (It makes the number ten times smaller. It is the same as dividing the number by 10 or finding 1/10 of the number.)
  
• How does multiplying a decimal number by 10 change its value? (It makes the number ten times larger. Each digit moves into the next higher place value.)
• What was 1.15 multiplied by to get to 115? (100)
• What is another way to write or express 10 x 10 x 10? (1,000)

Have students complete problems 1 through 4 on page 11 of the article.

Skills Sheets: Level Down: Level Down: Powers of 10 Math Maze (5.NBT.A.2) | On Level: DynaDash: Multiplying & Dividing Decimals by Powers of 10 (5.NBT.A.2) | Level Up: Measurement Conversions (5.MD.A.1, 5.NBT.A.2)

Activity: Challenge students to express powers of 10 using exponents. For example, 1,000 = 10 x 10 x 10 = 10³.

DynaMath@Home: Have students look through a grocery circular, store ad, or newspaper (at home or online) and record 10 different decimal numbers. Then have them roll a die or create a set of cards numbered 1 through 6. The number they roll or pick will determine how many multiples of ten to multiply by. For example, if they roll a 2 they will multiply the number by 10 x 10 and record the product.