Lab-Aids: One in a Million: Large and Small Numbers Kit

Help your students grasp an understanding of what one in a thousand or one in a million is. Using pennies and the power of 10 in this simple and interesting activity, students visualize that a million is a very large number. They conduct two different serial dilution activities that will impress upon them how very small numbers can have potential significance. Students perform a ten step 1:10 serial dilution using a colored contaminant than a colorless "contaminant" to make weaker and weaker solutions from 1:10 to 1:10,000,000,000. Using a chemical indicator, students next test the colorless "contaminant" for the presence of the contaminant. Serial Dilution is a valuable math-science link. It can be used to teach powers of 10, proportions and concepts of scale. You may want to introduce this technique prior to an inquiry investigation. The kit contains all materials (except the pennies) needed for 32 students, working in teams of 2.

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