Unless you're a scientist, engineer or other, it is unlikely you have much experience of the very big or the very small. However, with internet, and the great night sky, I suggest you kick back, take your sleeping bag outside under the stars to night (with an appropriate star map to bring it all to life!) and wonder at the enormity of the "reality" we live, and comprise such an infinitessimally (what does that mean!) small part of!

Why not have your iTouch or laptop at hand to wikipedia, google or wolframalpha any questions you may have about the microscopic bacteria all over your skin and in your bloodstream or the stars, planets, black holes and dark matter twinkling and swallowing the light out there!

Why we like this activity....
Another example of computer reality bringing the very, very, very, very, very far away and the microscopically
invisibly tiny into sight and giving us some understanding of these very unusual measurements and sizes. Yet again
incredibly inventive and thoughtful humans have given us a way of describing these unusual, but so very useful,
numbers so that we can work quickly and easily with them: standard form / standard index form / scientific
notation (all mean the same thing!).

How this activity can be used....
Click on the website link at the top of the word document to journey from the world of the very big to the lands of
the incredibly small. At each step make a note of the sizes of the images you see, both in words and numbers. Can
you see how standard form is used to represent these numbers and why, even though it may seem complicated to
begin with, it is actually much easier than writing these numbers out in full (standard decimal notation)!

What to expect when using this activity, from our experience...
If you want a challenge, trying writing these numbers in words like thirty fourtrillion, two hundred and thirty three
billion, nine hundred and ninety nine million six hundred and forty nine thousand two hundred and sixty four! Wow,
glad that's over! The goal is that you feel you understand why standard form notation is used and that you can spot
what is and isn't standard form. Look at "Planetary standard form" activity to refine your skills in using and
writing numbers in standard form or "Scientific Notation" to check you've understood what it is and isn't!

Extra notes

 

Author/Date Oliver Bowles 02.10.09

Credits