MADISON COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
District Curriculum Map for Mathematics: Grade 8
Unit Description
Big Idea(s)
What enduring
understandings are essential
for application to new
situations within or beyond
this content?
Unit 2
Properties of Exponents
Suggested Length: 2 weeks
*No Formal Assessment is needed for this unit. The application of this
standard will be assessed in Unit 3 with Scientific Notation. A quiz will suffice
for assessing the standard in this unit. Teacher may develop their own quiz
or use the one provided.
Enduring Understandings
Develop an understanding of expressions and equations.
Exponents are useful for representing very large or very small numbers.
Properties of integer exponents can be used to generate equivalent
numerical expressions.
Enduring Skills Rubric measures competency of the following skills:
Use properties of integer exponents to evaluate and simplify numerical
expressions containing exponents.
Essential Question(s)
What questions will provoke
and sustain student
engagement while focusing
learning?
Apply the properties of integer exponents to generate equivalent
numerical expressions.
When are exponents used and why are they important?
How do I simplify and evaluate numeric expressions involving integer
exponents?
How can I apply the properties of integer exponents to generate
equivalent numerical expressions?
Standards
Standards for Mathematical Practice
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
In grade 8, students solve real world problems through the application of
algebraic and geometric concepts. Students seek the meaning of a
problem and look for efficient ways to represent and solve it. They may
check their thinking by asking themselves, “What is the most efficient way to
solve the problem?”, “Does this make sense?”, and “Can I solve the
problem in a different way?”
7. Look for and make use of structure.
Students routinely seek patterns or structures to model and solve problems.
In grade 8, students apply properties to generate equivalent expressions
and solve equations. Students examine patterns in tables and graphs to
generate equations and describe relationships. Additionally, students
experimentally verify the effects of transformations and describe them in
terms of congruence and similarity.
Standards for Mathematical Content
8.EE.1 Know and apply the properties of integer exponents to generate
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2015-2016
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MADISON COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
District Curriculum Map for Mathematics: Grade 8
Supporting Standard(s)
Which related standards will
be incorporated to support
and enhance the enduring
standards?
Instructional Outcomes
What must students learn
and be able to do by the
end of the unit to
demonstrate mastery?
Essential Vocabulary
What vocabulary must
students know to
understand and
communicate effectively
about this content?
Resources/Activities
What resources could we
use to best teach this unit?
Curriculum and Instruction
equivalent numerical expressions. For example, 32 × 3-5= 3-3= 1/(33) = 1/27.
8.EE.2 Use square root and cube root symbols to represent solutions to
equations of the form x2 = p and x3 = p, where p is a positive rational
number. Evaluate square roots of small perfect squares and cube roots of
small perfect cubes. Know that √2 is irrational.
7.NS.2c Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and
division and of fractions to multiply and divide rational numbers.
c. Apply properties of operations as strategies to multiply and divide
rational numbers.
I am learning to…
 Explain that the exponent represents repeated multiplication of the
base.
 Calculate numerical expressions using positive integer exponents.
 Use the rules of integer addition to calculate positive exponents when
multiplying like bases.
 Calculate numerical expressions using negative integer exponents.
 Use the rules of integer addition to calculate negative exponents when
multiplying like bases.
 Convert a negative exponent to its fractional form.
Essential Vocabulary
Power, Base, Exponent, Exponential form, Standard form, and Expanded
Form
Supporting Vocabulary
Equivalent, Negative exponents, Integer exponents and Properties
Resources/Activities
www.estimation180.com
www.visualpatterns.org
101Questions
http://www.101qs.com/
Dan Meyer’s Website
http://blog.mrmeyer.com/
Dan Meyer has created many problem-based learning tasks. The tasks
have great hooks for the students and are aligned to the standards.
Andrew Stadel
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkLk45wwjYBudG9LeX
Rad0lHM0E0VFRyOEtRckVvM1E#gid=0
Andrew Stadel has created many problem-based learning tasks using
the same format as Dan Meyer.
Robert Palinsky
http://robertkaplinsky.com/lessons/
Robert Palinsky has created many tasks that engage students with real
life situations.
Geoff Krall’s Emergent Math
http://emergentmath.com/my-problem-based-curriculum-maps/
Geoff Krall has created a curriculum map structured around problem2015-2016
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MADISON COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
District Curriculum Map for Mathematics: Grade 8
based learning tasks.
Mathematics in Movies
http://www.math.harvard.edu/~knill/mathmovies/
Short movie clips related to a variety of math topics.
Mathematical Fiction
http://kasmana.people.cofc.edu/MATHFICT/browse.php
Plays, short stories, comic books and novels dealing with math.
The Shodor Educational Foundation
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/lessons/byAudience/
This website has extensive notes, lesson plans and applets aligned with
the standards.
NEA Portal Arkansas Video Lessons on-line
http://neaportal.k12.ar.us/index.php/9th-12th-grades-mathematics/
The NEA portal has short videos aligned to each standard. This resource
may be very helpful for students who need review at home.
Learnzillion
http://learnzillion.com/common_core/math/hs
This is another good resource for parents and students who need a
refresher on topics.
Math Words
http://www.mathwords.com/
This is a good reference for math terms.
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html
Java must be enabled for this applet to run. This website has a wealth of
virtual manipulatives helpful for use in presentation. Listed by domain.
Geogebra Download
http://www.geogebra.org/cms/download
Free software similar to Geometer’s Sketchpad. This program has
applications for algebra, geometry & statistics.
Remember there are other sources in your school that may not be listed
on this common resources list due to variation in each individual
school. Examples of other great resources your school may have
access to include: Everyday Math Games, Investigations, Everyday
Partner Games, AVMR file folders, Ongoing Assessment Project, etc. The
Kentucky Numeracy Project is also a great resource that can be
searched by AVMR strand, CCSS, and grade level. Find this resource at
http://knp.kentuckymathematics.org/#!/page_knphome. Kentucky
teachers can use it for free. Just put in your school email address and the
username “mathfun”, and password is “859”.
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Curriculum and Instruction
2015-2016
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