Mathematics, some would argue, is just logic (like Dr. Spock from Star Trek!). It's possible that you could discover the whole of mathematics for yourself, locked in a dark room, from just a few basic axioms ("axioms" aka: "self evident truths"). That's what this activity is all about. The blueprints for the Universe lie within your own mind. With a little help from trying to understand your calculator, you can work out how standard form works all by yourself!

Why we like this activity....
If you really want to, you can work most of mathematics out for yourself. That's what you'll find you can do in this
activity. That crazy calculator isn't crazy, it's just using standard form notation which is helpful in many ways (see
Visualising very big and very small numbers or Scientific notation lessons to reinforce/clarify the concepts
afterward).

How this activity can be used....
You MUST have your calculator and you MUST be prepared to think for yourself! Don't let nobody hoodwink you!
You're a mathmagician, you need a logically consistent, preferably irrefutable, argument to back up any knowledge
you're willing to accept as "true".

What to expect when using this activity, from our experience...
Most students, like you, work out the pattern and what the calculator is doing sooner or later! However, a lot then
forget how to multiply and divide by powers of 10 when they have to do questions without a calculator. There is a
place value worksheet at the end of the sheet to help you with this: use it!! Being able to x÷10, 100, 1000 is as
important and essential to life as being able to read and write . Doing it incorrectly can cost lives: Two Bristol
nurses were convicted in 2005 for 2-5years of prison for manslaughter after they'd misread the quantity of drug to
administer to their elderly patients and instead of giving 0.006mg they'd given them 0.06mg, ten times more. This
had resulted in the deaths of ten patients the enquiry found out! Small details can be very, very important!

Q5 requires you to convert the standard form numbers into ordinary form numbers and then add them together.
Many people get it wrong when they try and do it in their heads, adding tens to hundreds etc. Don't take a short cut!
Write both numbers out in full and use the standard column method for long addition e.g 6.3 x 10^3 + 4.21 x 10^5.
A short cut isn't a short cut if you get lost half way!

4 2 1 0 0 0

+ 6 3 0 0

4 2 7 3 0 0

Extra notes

Author/Date Oliver Bowles

Credits: Mark Dawes