Students will learn how to evaluate exponents with negative bases. From their knowledge that a negative times a negative is a positive, and similarly, that a negative times a positive is a negative, they'll see that taking a negative base to an even number results in a positive number, and taking a negative base to an odd power results in a negative number (video).
Next, give your students these challenges:
- Turning Granny by NRICH
- Abundant Numbers by NRICH
Conclude by leading this investigation:
Packing Pasta (estimate, measure, volume)
by MathPickle