Exponent Puzzles

The other day I spent the teeny-tiniest time on twitter. Fortunately, I was there long enough to read about #MTBoSblog18 and thought it seemed like a very doable challenge. I happen to have a few little files to share, so here goes January!

A while ago I wrote about this strategy for teaching students to solve exponential equations (without logs). It has been a pretty effective lead in for exponential equations and also evaluating logs, as students get to practice using all different kinds of exponents and combining them with different bases.

This year, our school has been going paperless making great efforts to reduce our paper usage, so I had my teacher's aide help me convert this activity to a reusable form for my dry erase sleeves.

For level 1, students choose the correct exponent to complete the equation. Fraction and negative exponents are used.

For level 2, students choose a base and an exponent to complete each equation.

For level 3, students must use the same base to complete two different equations.

 
When they're done, I go straight into solving exponential equations with the use of like bases. It's a super easy transition. Logarithms are next, and this activity really sets the stage for answering the question "What exponent goes with base ____ to equal ____?". 

Here are the files:

Level One
Level Two
Level Three

Happy 2018!