Back to: Private: SciTech Fridays 2022
Metric Prefixes
Julian’s "gag" video: The Metric Prefixes Song.
A very memorable way to learn metric prefixes!
In class question: what are the names of numbers bigger than a million? A billion?
Ans: this excellent page, with a formula for the names!.
But note, not everyone agrees on the meaning of billion and beyond (short vs long scale). So exponents are useful…
Exponents
After hearing all the prefix names, we had a discussion of base 10 exponents, multiples of 10, and how that "moves the decimal point."
Scale
To reinforce exponents, scale, and introduce exponential growth, we watched:
- VFX Artist Uses CGI to Reveal the True Scale of A BILLION!
- VFX Artist Reveals the True Scale of the Universe
- VFX Artist Reveals the True Scale of Atoms
- Beyond Infinity Number Comparison
Extra Resources
- Exponential Growth: a Commonsense Explanation..
- topical (limited world, economics vs real world resources) at 2:34
- Using VFX to Explain Why COVID-19 Surprised Everyone – covers exponential growth; decided not to watch given the topic used to introduces it is COVID-19.
Then explored (The Scale of the Universe 2)[https://htwins.net/scale2/].
Perimeters and Fractals
How long of is the outline of the UK if you use a 10m long ruler? is it longer if you use a 1m (shorter) ruler? You can go around more details… so the perimeter increases. (Extra: Does the 1D perimeter increase faster than the 2D area it encloses?) One of the many interesting oddities of Fractals!
Had fun exploring:
- the Mandelbrot set using Xaos.
- Science vs Magic
- IFS Animator
Extra Resources
Wrap up: We watched a little of the Nova documentary on Fractals
