Know thy calculator. Young mathematicians use their calculators to answer a set of questions. They consider how the number of digits the calculator displays affects the answers to calculations. They then find examples of computations where the calculator does not give an accurate answer due to limitations in the number of digits.

Concepts

calculator skills, powers of 10, place value

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Additional Tags

math

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Instructional Ideas

• Use the resource as an extension activity
  

Classroom Considerations

• Preferably, all learners have calculators that display the same number of digits
  
• Pupils should be familiar with place value and its relationship to powers of 10
  

Pros

• Answer key takes into consideration the fact that different calculators display different numbers of digits
• Printable worksheet is available
  

Cons

• None