Negative Integer Exponents Stations Activity

So ... I've been teaching exponent rules in my Algebra 1 class.  

Although students learned the negative integer exponent rule in their pre-algebra course, my algebra students never seem to come to me knowing it particularly well.   

I didn't want to spend a lot of time on notes and examples.  Instead, I wanted to see whether or not they could extend the rule to more challenging situations. For this reason, I decided both to review the negative integer exponent rule, and to build on it by using a stations activity.

I designed the stations to demonstrate how the rule remains unchanged, yet the problems increase in difficulty.  My goal for my students was for them to work independently to review the negative exponent rule, then to continue applying it in progressively more challenging problems as they moved through the four stations.

Hint Sheet for Station A

I created a hint sheet with notes and examples to go along with station worksheet A, as well as one to be used with worksheets B-D.  The hint sheets were available to all students.  However, some students needed them, while others did not even pick them up.

All students began at Station A.  

Station A

There, they completed a ten question review worksheet, self-checked their answers with the answer key at that station, and asked me for clarification as needed.

They continued through Stations B, C, and D in the same manner.  You can find the activity here.

I was happy with the way this worked out.  Overall, it took much less time than teaching the lesson in a traditional manner. Students commented that they liked being able to just START since many of them didn't need to be completely retaught. Those who did not remember the rule, grasped it quickly as they worked through the first station and asked questions as needed.  I will definitely use these stations again!