Get ready to master scientific notation in an engaging, interactive environment! In this practice activity, you will learn to confidently convert large and small numbers into scientific notation – a crucial skill across many scientific disciplines. You will practice at your own pace through three levels, building skills and accuracy. From calculating Avogadro's number to expressing the speed of light, this activity equips you with practical and essential skills for your future career.

Beginning on Level 1, you'll focus on converting basic numbers into scientific notation. Here, you will learn why this form is valuable across fields like pharmacology and healthcare, where small drug concentrations, such as 0.0025 mg/dL, are easier to express as 2.5 x 10−3. This level reinforces the importance of eliminating the risk of errors by mastering conversions.

In Level 2, you’ll build on your knowledge by learning to manipulate very large and very small values, mastering precision as you move decimal points and apply the correct exponents. The ability to convert trillions into 5.14 x 1012 or microscopic figures like 0.0032 into 3.2 x 10−6 will become second nature.

Finally, in Level 3, you will order and compare numbers by converting them between standard and scientific notation. Here, you’ll strengthen your ability to apply scientific notation ensuring consistency and accuracy in scientific calculations. By the end of this practice activity, you’ll have the confidence use scientific notation with ease in various applications, from astronomy to microbiology and beyond.