Exponential Pushups: How Many Can Your Students Do

The purpose of this exercise is twofold; first, to show exponential growth, second to serve as a fun way of testing your student’s knowledge of exponents.

• Ask you classroom who can do 2 push-ups? Have someone show you.

• Explain that this is the same as doing 2^1 pushups.

• Ask you classroom who can do 4 push-ups? Have someone show you.

• Explain that this is the same as doing 2^2 pushups

Continue this exercise until you get to 2^7, from here have them calculate and image doing that many pushups. Where you stop from here is up to you.

Next, pair up your students and give them a worksheet with exponent problems. The only catch is, they must show you what the answer is by doing pushups.



Example,

• 3^2 a student from the group must show you the answer is 9 by performing 9 pushups.

Is Your Secret Safe? Think Exponentially (Exponential Growth)

Is Your Secret Safe? Think Exponentially 

1st: Think and write a secret that you wouldn't want anyone to know about you, aside from a couple of dear close friends

2nd: Think of who those close friends, draw them and write their name under the picture (stickmen will work fine)

Names__________________

3rd: If in one day you tell each of your friends your secret, how many total people (aside from you) now know your secret?

______ total people in ___ day

4th: Now, if the next day each of your friends tell three of their friends, how many people now know your secret (aside from you)? Draw them underneath each of their friends

______ total people in ___days

5th: Now, lets say the following day each of these friends tell three friends. Now how many people know your secret? Draw them

______ total people in ___ days

6th: We can see how fast your rumor can spread right? Theres got to be a better way of calculating who will know your secret. 

In Walks Exponents :)

Exponents will quickly allow us to calculate how many people know your rumor 

Day 1: 3^1 know your secret 

Day 2: 3^2 know your secret (plus your original  3)

Day 3: 3^3 know your secret and so forth (plus your original 9)...

Our equation can be thought of as this 

# of people who know your secret = (how many people you tell) raised to the power of (how many people they tell) . As those who are told begin to tell others, the exponent grows. Don forget to factor in the original amount of people :)

Moral of the story? Keep your secrets with you or those you really trust

Additional Questions To Ask?

How long till you school or neighborhood knows your secret?

How long till the country know your secret?

How long till the world knows your secret? 

High-Five Exponents

High-Five Exponents

The most common mistake students make with exponents is they multiply the base times the exponent verses the bases times itself. The purpose of this exercise is to help students recognize such error.

Write the following exponent on the board 5^3
Tell the students that the 5 represents fingers and the three represents the number of times we high-five. Therefore, have students high-five someone beside them three times.

Have students chant times between each slap
Then write the following exponent 3^5 on the board
Have students use three fingers and high-five with three fingers five separate times.
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