Teaching Big Concepts
Posted by PLB Registrar · Leave a Comment
Have you ever struggled to explain a concept to your students?
Sometimes having a mneumonic device or using an example is helpful. When it comes to math, teachers know how to explain ones, tens and even hundreds. However, how do we teach millions, billions and trillions? One way is to use time as an illustration. Because students can compare the length of one second to the amount of time in one year, they can more easily comprehend the relative differences between these big numbers.
- 1 MILLION seconds = 12 DAYS
- 1 BILLION seconds = 32 YEARS
- 1 TRILLION seconds = 3, 171 YEARS
In using time, teachers might more easily get the point across that the DIFFERENCE between millions, billions and trillions is HUGE.
This week’s questions for you:
- What is your favorite mneumonic device, analogy, story or other means of teaching a concept?
