How big is an atom? How small is a light year? Early learning powers of ten

Authors

  • Anastasia Popkova The University of Western Australia
  • David Blair The University of Western Australia

Keywords:

Powers of Ten, Scales of the Universe, Einsteinian Physics, hands-on learning

Abstract

We will present a part of the program called “Maths for Einstein’s Universe” designed for Year 3 to Year 6 students. Early learning of Powers of Ten for Primary introduces the maths of huge and tiny numbers using fun, hands-on activities suitable for all levels of understanding. The program helps children who may have been turned off traditional maths like rote learning tables and practising complex maths procedures to solve problems they see as not being relevant. Also, the program inspires students who are good at maths by extending their thinking to encompass the vast and the tiny. We do this by taking them on a mind-expanding journey where activities using powers of ten unleash their ability to know and understand the universe from the tiniest subatomic particles to the size of the entire universe.

Author Biographies

  • Anastasia Popkova, The University of Western Australia
    Department of Physics, PhD student
  • David Blair, The University of Western Australia
    Department of Physics, Emeritus Professor

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Published

2022-09-23