Section 3: Scientific Notation
Fundamental Topics in Science © 2001 Texas Instruments Teacher Notes 3-6
Try-It!™ on Your TI
83 Plus
This
Try-It! activity requires the use of the Science Tools application. This free application
came with the Fundamental Topics in Science application and is accessible from the
SCIENCE
CHAPTERS
menu, but it must be loaded separately.
Students enter a mixed calculation (values in both decimal and scientific format) and then
display the results in varying formats. The same activity is used on the home screen and in the
SIG-FIG CALCULATOR
so that students can observe the differences between them.
If students are not already familiar with the calculator, explain that on the TI
83 Plus they can
enter values in either decimal format or scientific notation format anywhere they need to enter a
value (on the home screen, in the list editor, as a
WINDOW
setting, and so on). However, they
specify on the
MODE
screen how they want results to
display
on the home screen and in the list
editor.
There are three display notation formats on the TI
83 Plus.
•
Decimal (
Normal
)
•
Scientific Notation (
Sci
)
•
Engineering (
Eng
)
You may need to explain that Engineering Notation is similar to Scientific Notation, except that
instead of the value always having one place to the left of the decimal, the exponent is always a
multiple of three (hence there may be one, two, or three digits to the left of the decimal).
Space is provided for written answers on the
Try-It! sheets, but if the students are keeping
journals, you may wish to direct them to record their responses in their journals instead.
Note:
The calculator features are described more fully in the
TI
1
83 Plus
guidebook. The
SCIENCE TOOLS
application
is described more fully in the
TI
1
83 Plus Science Tools
user guide.
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